Virtually Perfect
by Generic Hero
Summary: Serenity takes a job testing Kaiba's latest virtual game, and finds herself in a magical world of Kaiba's design. She finds adventure and excitement in the world beyond her own, and also finds herself falling for an AI designed after the game's creator.
1. The Invitation

A/N: I've been watching a lot of Escaflowne lately so I had a hankering to write some steampunk. I've also been reading a lot of Yu-Gi-Oh! so I wanted to write Yu-Gi-Oh! This is what I came up with. While this chapter contains very little action, adventure or romance I must assure you that all three are to come. Eventually. What this chapter does contained are fairly longwinded descriptions of things that I felt needed describing and a whole lot of setting. With that in mind, enjoy.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own anything, I just borrow. I promise, I'll put Seto back where I found him when I'm done.

**Chapter One: The Invitation**

Beautiful. Striking. Totally beyond her reach. Any of those terms could have been used to describe the object of her affection. But, alas, Serenity couldn't afford the dress, nor would she likely ever be able to. Even more than that, it was unlikely she'd ever find a situation to wear such a magnificent garment. Living alone in Domino City, much to her brother Joey's chagrin, was expensive and her on-again-off-again work didn't do much to help that. Moreover, her work was off-again at the moment, meaning she had to make do on her meagre savings until she found another one. Even if she could've afforded it, she couldn't waste the money. College was going to be expensive. She was actually building up the courage to go into the posh store and submit a resume, but the dress had caught her eye.

"Ogling things in the window, Serenity?" A voice piped up from behind her. She turned to regard the teenaged Mokuba Kaiba. With a girl on one arm and some rather full shopping bags in the other, the kid hardly looked like the Mokuba Kaiba she'd met years ago. He wore a pair of loose black jeans and a black dress shirt, his hair as long and ragged as ever. It was funny, she'd kept in touch with him, like with most of her other friends, and it had gone so gradually she barely noticed the change. Now, the boy was a good bit taller than she was and fairly muscular. The girl on his arm seemed uncomfortable but Mokuba, showing a bit of his brother in him, didn't seem to notice.

"Yeah…" Serenity admitted, pulling here eyes away from the gorgeous piece of clothing. "But I could never afford that. I'm between jobs right now and rent is due soon and I probably don't have the money and…" Serenity grabbed her mouth with both hands, "Didn't mean to gush like that."

Mokuba grinned broadly, "Don't worry about it," his face suddenly turned compassionate, his violet eyes giving a soft shimmer, "Are you really strapped for cash though? Because I could help."

"No," Serenity answered even before he finished the suggestion, "I couldn't let you buy my way out of trouble. Stupid as it may be I want to sink or swim on my own power." It was stupid, but Serenity was beginning to resent anyone wanting to do anything for her. Duke and Tristan still fawned over her and their constant attention was maddening. Joey treated her like a two-year old and Yugi treated her like an invalid. The next person to offer her charity was getting smacked and that was all there was to it.

Mokuba nodded, "Yeah, I figured. Seto's the same way, won't take help from anybody. But what I was going to suggest was that you give us a hand down at Kaiba Corp. No office work, don't worry," he assured her, catching the expression already forming on her face, "Seto just finished the big project he's been working on… since Kaiba Land, anyway. It's a virtual world capable of sustaining residents for weeks at a time. We're testing the quest system in it this weekend and I need a few more bodies. Seto said I was better 'at people' and that I should find some testers. You up for it? You'll be reimbursed for your time, of course. Fifteen hundred yen an hour for your time and effort."

Serenity paused for a moment and Mokuba could tell she was going to refuse. Before she could reply, Mokuba scratched the back of his head and admitted, "You'd actually be getting me out of a jam. I've been having a hard time finding people with the free time to spend at least a week testing the thing."

"I don't really play video games anymore Mokuba…" Serenity replied.

"Good," Mokuba retorted, having expected the reply, "because this is no mere video game. Seto's been working on this for years, this is a whole world. History, politics, everything. The one time plot they're using to test the quest system alone will take a week at least to complete. That's a lot of money, plus it's a while you don't have to buy food for and it'll be fun! Come on, Serenity…"

Serenity looked at the puppy-dog eyes Mokuba was making at her. He was a teenager now and yet he still had those damn eyes down. "Fine," Serenity acquiesced, "I guess I could use the work."

Mokuba sighed in relief. "Great, can you find maybe two other people to come with you? We're still short."

The redhead nodded a little, thinking who she could invite. Mokuba accepted the agreement for what it is and gave her directions to the test building in Kaiba Corp HQ, telling her the test started tomorrow at eleven in the morning. He started walking away, then turned back for a moment. "Serenity," he called, an apologetic look on his face, "Don't bring Joey. Seto wouldn't like it."

That made Serenity pout a little. Here she was doing a favour for him and he wouldn't let her bring her brother. Then again, in a way it was a situation of mutual benefit so she could accept it. Well, her wallet could even if her pride couldn't. She'd call Yugi for sure. Yugi was working at his grandfather's game shop and would be able to take the time off, especially for a game like this. Either Duke or Tristan would probably quit their job to get to spend a week with her. Tristan more than Duke, though. Duke had been drifting further away from her, no longer willing to spend all his time pursuing one girl when he could have so many.

Realizing that it didn't make sense to be submitting resumes and then saying that she couldn't work for the next week, she headed home. The bus ride was as crowded as it always was and she was forced to stand. Only one bus made the rounds from the part of Domino where she lived to downtown Domino and it was always packed. It was worse on weekends, but today was a Monday so she had room to wiggle. Finally, she reached the grey aluminum sided cube that held her apartment. She unlocked the door and walked in.

She lived on the fourth floor. The building's one elevator almost never worked and when it did half of the city's thrill seekers gathered in her building to see if they could survive the rickety terror. The hike up the four flights everyday kept her in shape but it did very little for her mood. When she finally reached the apartment she was more than a little frustrated. Ellis, the six-year-old kid who lived with his mother one apartment over, had spilled cola all over the stairs and it stuck on every step. The landlord hadn't had it cleaned in over six months so it stank and stuck and was an entirely miserable experience. Pounding the keys into her lock, she swung into her sanctuary. It wasn't much, but it was home.

It was barely anything, actually. The apartments didn't contain kitchens or bathrooms but instead had communal bathrooms and kitchens in the hall. While the tenants had come together to make the bathroom bearable the kitchen was still a place where angels feared to tread. As such, she kept a hot plate on a bedside table and used it for most of her cooking since she couldn't afford to eat in. The beige-on-beige room was the only room in her apartment; a pullout couch that had been pulled out since she moved in eight months ago took up most of the space, complimenting her two bedside tables and her black-and-white television. It was what 30,000-yen a month got you. No one else had seen her apartment. She wouldn't allow it.

Taking a seat on the bed/couch she turned on the television. It was hard to tell exactly what was on through the grainy reception but it appeared to be anime. Taking off her shoes, she grabbed the phone from the bedside table not occupied by the hot plate. She took in one more glance at the squalor that was her home and had to remind herself once again that it was better than living with her parents, and she wouldn't ride on Joey's coattails. Not that Joey was rich and powerful, but he'd managed to find a stable job despite the recession and his apartment had a bathroom and a kitchen.

She glanced down at the phone. There was no way she could turn down the money, over 200,000-yen if what Mokuba had suggested was true. She dialled in Yugi's number.

"Moto residence," Yugi responded brightly.

"Hi, Yugi, it's Serenity," Serenity replied unenthusiastically.

"Hey, Serenity, what's up?"

"You doing anything for the next week?" she asked, glancing down at her pile of clothes on the floor and wondering what to wear.

"Working, but I can get out of it. What did you have in mind?"

"Kaiba's testing a new virtual video game and I was asked to help test it. I need two more people to join in. I was wondering…"

"Absolutely," Yugi interrupted, "I'd love to go. Another virtual world, eh?"

Serenity nodded, and then answered, "Yeah. It pays pretty well too. I'm going to give Duke a call to see if he wants to go too. It'll be nice to have you there so that he doesn't try anything…"

"Duke's release for his new game is in three days, he won't be able to make it," Yugi reminded her.

"You're right," Serenity groaned, "I was supposed to go to that. Still, work goes first I guess. I call Tristan then."

"Alright, where and when?" Yugi chirped.

Serenity told him, and then hung up. Flipping through her address book, she found Tristan's number. She realized that while she'd spent hours on the phone with him in this apartment, this was the first time she'd called him since she moved in. He'd be thrilled. That almost made her not want to call. Still, she dialled the number.

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Kaiba stood in the central control room for the new virtual program they'd be running final tests on the next day. The work was the result of years of labour. Kaiba himself had planned everything. Having planned meteorological, geological and human forces on every area, he'd simulated forest growth for every copse, erosion for every hill. The world was shaped as though it had existed for millennia, undergoing every event in the falsified history of the world he'd made. And what a history! Rich in intrigue, magic and dark secrets, he'd created the perfect world for his steampunk fantasy empire. It was all based on Duel Monsters, of course. The beasts so well known and loved across Japan filled the forests, swamps and mountains of his world. Players that chose to play as summoners would find that they could call the beasts to their aid. Those that played as sorcerers or warriors would find themselves going into battle against the monsters.

Over ten thousand AI's roamed his world. Programmed with a state of the art artificial intelligence that he had designed, the inhabitants of his world were what he was most proud of. Their programming ran on principles. Each AI was given certain primary principles that told it parameters for what it could not, under any circumstances, do. Its secondary principles dictated its primary goals and objectives, and provided the driving force behind every action the AI performed. Finally, the AI was rounded off by tertiary principles, goals that were not of prime importance but that the being sought to enhance its life. By programming them that way, he had enabled the AI's to spawn new lines of code, test them against their principles and execute them based on those principles. The AI's were capable of thinking rationally and making educated decisions.

But that wasn't the height of his achievements with the denizens of his earth. He knew that in order to pass as human they had to be capable not only of rational thought, but of _irrational _thought, a trait more often found in humans. But that was difficult, so he had programmed the AI's with an emotional state in addition to their rational thoughts. Simulating reactions to events based on principle values, the AI's felt angry when you insulted what they believed in, and sad when what they believed in was harmed. He allowed these emotions a pull on their decisions. He allowed them to override rational decisions in favour of those backed by emotional surges. They could not, however, break primary principles. He had implemented those for the safety of those in the game and knew that they were the most important part of the program.

Each AI required a computer more than fifty times more powerful than the average commercial PC to calculate mundane decisions. As a result, a massive supercomputer was responsible for calculating the every thought and whim, simultaneously, of every character in the game. The computer, nicknamed 'The Overmind', sat in an argon-saturated room, kept consistently at fifteen below centigrade, silently humming away its thoughts. Capable of processing thoughts for every AI each second, the computer was the lifeblood of the program.

The halogen lights hummed in the player room, situated beneath and to the east of the main control room for supervision purposes. Seventy-five identical pods sat in fifteen groups, connected to a main pillar that processed commands in the network. Tomorrow, those pods would be filled with people to test the quest he had built for them. He, of course, would oversee from his own personal viewpoint, separate from this control room. Mokuba could be trusted at the helm of this test. There were certain things Kaiba wanted to observe that only the monitors he'd prepared would allow.

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Serenity walked into the main testing room to find it almost filled. People had already formed into groups, ganging with those they already knew. The room itself was fairly large, but the massive pillars housing the VR cells occupied most of it. It was made even less comfortable by the surprisingly high ceilings, towering almost invisibly over the room. Leaning over next to Yugi in order to be heard over din of conversation in the room around she whispered, "Do you know anyone here?"

Yugi nodded a bit, pointing to Duellists he recognized. Rex Raptor and Weevil Underwood were there, having weaseled themselves a couple of invites. Mako was there too, as well as another handful of duellists Kaiba respected enough to invite. As they chatted amongst themselves, anticipating the game to come, Mokuba made his way down from the control room to greet them.

"Serenity! You're here. And you brought Yugi and Tristan with you. Great, I'm sure Yugi'll be quite the pro from the start," he commented as he joined the group.

"Well, maybe you can give us some details on the game," Yugi suggested, "We're still not quite sure what it's all about."

Mokuba winked at Yugi, "You'll see. I want you to discover it for yourself, one little bit at a time." Suddenly, Mokuba glanced to the control room, getting an okay symbol from one of the techs there. "And on that note, I have to cue my brother. Good luck in the game, all of you."

Returning to the control centre, Mokuba pressed a button and said something inaudible from where the trio stood below. A moment later Kaiba entered on a platform mounted on the wall above them. Surveying the crowd, Kaiba folded his arms over his chest and smirked. He wore his favourite white trench coat, straps and all, looking as intimidating as he ever did. Silence passed as everyone in the assembled group turned their attention to Kaiba. By the time he opted to speak, even his whisper would have been heard.

"Welcome," he declared, his voice confident and well projected, "to my game. Pending the success of this test, this game will be released within the month. When it is, it will revolutionize the gaming world. There have been virtual realities before, true. But never before has so complete, so complex a world been created by a human mind. Moreover, the people you will meet once you enter my world are the single most advanced artificial intelligences every created. Capable of thought, dreams and a full range of emotions, you'll have a hard time telling which are virtual and which are real. I only ask that you not tell the AI's that they're AI's. I'm not sure how they'd take the news. Now, please enter a virtual reality cell and allow one of the attendants to jack you in."

As she climbed into one of the pods, flanked on either side by the men she'd brought with her, Serenity couldn't help but laugh inwardly at Kaiba's bluster. The man was so self-centred it was striking. He'd probably end up chasing a girl exactly like himself, they'd get married out of mutual narcissism and divorce after having the most conceited babies ever conceived. The nearby attendant locked her into the cell. Every limb was bound to prevent rogue impulses from actually moving limbs. Next, the attendant plugged an IV cord into her arm, attached to a bag of colourless fluid. That worried her. Finally, it appeared the procedure was complete.

"A final note before you get started," Kaiba commented dryly, "the IV is responsible for giving you the necessary food to stay alive. It will only feed you when you eat in the game, so don't forget to stop and get lunch," he smirked slightly. "Once your mind is suspended the cell will be configured to handle other unavoidable bodily functions. If everything goes according to plan you'll never be aware of them."

Before any of them could protest the notion, the cells sprang to life. Serenity's vision suddenly disappeared in a flash of light. The next thing she knew, she was floating in a kind of lukewarm gel, supporting her suspended within it. She could breathe, she realized, and she did. Music played softly in the background, but so distant that she could barely make out the tune. A moment, or perhaps an hour, later, a soothing female voice spoke out of the nothingness.

"Welcome to character generation, Serenity Wheeler. In this stage, we will determine the specifics of the character that you will be portraying. Is this acceptable?"

"Yes," Serenity answered, barely aware of her own words. The suspension was so soothing, so pleasant. She could have been satisfied with just this for the duration of her trip, but alas, duty called.

"Three character classes are defined within the game for beginning characters. You may choose to play as a Sorcerer, a Warrior or a Summoner. For details on any class, simply state the class name. To select class, state 'be' followed by the class name."

"Sorcerer…" Serenity muttered.

"A sorcerer is capable of both combat and of the use of magic cards and certain special abilities. While experience gives no increase in physical abilities to the sorcerer, the magic cards that can be used are defined by experience level. Special abilities available to the sorcerer include spell-like abilities that can be evoked without the use of magic cards depending on the level of the sorcerer. Magic cards cease to exist after one use."

"Warrior…" she mumbled again, conscious of every word, though not of anything else.

"A warrior uses no cards, although they are able to equip most monster equip cards. Experience increases the physical abilities of the warrior, increasing their speed, strength and dexterity far beyond the threshold of the player, and in later levels, beyond the threshold of possible human ability. Abilities available to the warrior are limited to increases in physical and defensive prowess."

"Summoner…" she requested, sure that warrior was not the class for her. She lacked any real physical strength, given her height and build, and didn't care for the idea of virtually simulated strength.

"A summoner is capable of using monster cards to summon creatures to defend them and their companions. While not able to actually engage in combat, the summoner compensates by being allowed a vast arsenal of up to forty monster cards at any one time. Summoners are allowed higher-level monsters with more experience, and access to abilities to augment any summons made. Monster cards cease to exist after being used a number of times equal to their star level."

"Be summoner," Serenity decided. Avoiding any actual combat would be preferable, but she doubted she'd have to know-how to be a sorcerer. Summoning, on the other hand, seemed straightforward and simple. She quickly found that she was sinking through the thick, clear liquid that composed the area around her. Her feet sank faster than her body, until she was in a standing position. After sinking for what felt like an hour, her feet touched on something solid. As soon as it did, the liquid thinned into air, and the world began to form around her. It started with the ground, a level dirt floor pounded flat from use. Next, the sky formed above her, turning from white, to pale blue, and then to a rich deep blue like a summer's noon. Around, forms began to come into being and a moment later the world had formed around her.

She was in a courtyard, she realized, with the others that she had recently been in the test room with. Two of the walls were simple defensive walls, lined with battlements, composing the corner that she was standing in. The other two were part of a massive medieval fort, made of the same white stone that the other two walls were formed from. In the end of the courtyard she was facing, opposite the gated entrance, there was a wooden stage with what seemed to be a podium atop it. Many important looking men stood atop the stage, centring on a familiar figure.

Kaiba was wearing half plate armour on his torso, covered by a navy blue cape. It shone as though it had received recent loving attention, gleaming from the sun nearly at the apex of its climb. Around his waist he wore a white sash, immaculate, and a blade in a black scabbard, complementing the thick black pants he wore over his legs, ending in heavy black boots. As soon as she finished sizing him up, as if on cue, he walked to the podium to address the crowd.

"Welcome, graduates of the Cobalt Academy of Combat. As you probably know, I am Prince Seto. Today, you set out into the world around you to find your fortune. I wish you well, because you're apt to find as much trouble as adventure. Remember what you've learned here, but most of all remember this: strength and power are privileges granted to few. With them, you hold the power to change the world. Make any changes that you make for the better, and never use what you've learned here for ill." Having made his speech, he faded to the back of the platform and busied himself talking to the others. It was a pretty speech, but it would have been more effective if any of the people there had known what it was they were supposed to have learned.

It took Serenity a few moments to find Yugi, who was already with Tristan. All of them remained in their original clothing, in stark contrast to the burly warriors and sorcerers on the platform, and seemed as disoriented as she was. "So, what did you choose to be?" Serenity asked as she joined the pair.

"What else?" Tristan asked, posing to try and accentuate his almost non-existent musculature, "I'm a warrior!"

"And I'm a sorcerer," Yugi added with a smile, "How about you?"

"Summoner," Serenity replied quickly, "Why a sorcerer, Yugi? I though you'd have wanted to be a summoner like me."

"Sure," Yugi replied offhand, "I like to summon the Dark Magician, but I'd love to _be _the dark magician!"

Nodding her understanding, Serenity took a cursory glance around. Most of the others had formed into groups, and many had left already. "So, what do we do now?" she asked the air, continuing her survey of the area.

"I figure we start adventuring!" Tristan answered, as though it should be obvious.

Serenity simply rolled her eyes. "Gee, Tristan, it's great that we have you here to clear these things up. How does one 'start adventuring'?"

Tristan contorted his face as though he honestly hadn't thought of that, struggling to find the words to reply. "We… go to… where the adventures are?" he offered.

With a motion to where Kaiba still stood on the platform, Yugi made a suggestion. "Why don't we see if Kaiba wants to come along with us? It is his game after all," he ventured.

His two companions shrugged by way of reply, so the group made it up to the platform. The stairs they scaled brought them up before a man dressed all in yellow, a giant cloak over most of his body. His head was devoid of hair, shaved clean, and his eyes were narrow and seemed entirely black. A long crooked nose stood erect in the middle of his face, nearly hiding his narrow mouth. The man intercepted the group of youngsters and rounded them back to the stairs.

"What do you want, little ankle biters?" he asked coldly, glowering down at the gang.

"We wanted to talk to Kaiba," Tristan answered quickly, fixing the frail but authoritative ghoul of a man with his own stare.

A strange look crossed the man's face and he shook his head, "What nonsense is that? You can't _talk _to Kaiba!"

"It's okay, we know him," Yugi chimed in, placed rather precariously between Tristan and Serenity with less than a step of the narrow stairs to himself.

Again, the man shot the group a strange look. "Him? You _know _Kaiba? You make less sense every time you say something!"

"Sachiel!" a voice boomed from across the platform, "What's going on over there? Assaulting some poor young adventurers?"

"No, Prince Seto," the man in yellow replied, drawing away from the group, "These… confused children were claiming they could speak to, and knew, Kaiba."

The armoured man closed the distance to the gang, now piled onto the platform, in a few abrupt strides. "How exactly do you speak to a country, friends?" he asked.

"Countr--?" Tristan began, but was cut short from an elbow in the ribs courtesy of Yugi Moto.

"Ah, sorry, a miscommunication," Yugi replied, beginning to understand in his mind the explanation for the mix-up, "Prince Seto, we were wondering if we might speak to you?"

Seto paused, then nodded. "General Shale, I'll speak to you later," he called to a heavily armoured man awaiting him. Turning to the group, he looked at them expectantly.

With a smile, Yugi piped up, "We were wondering, K- err, Seto, if you'd like to come with us on… on our adventures. We could probably use your help."

The prince raised an eyebrow at them, and then sighed, "Actually, I'd love to. But, my duties prevent me from doing anything of the kind. You seem like a decent bunch, though, so I'll give you a bit of help," he offered, reaching behind his back and fiddling with some kind of pouch. "Are any of you summoners?" he asked as he fidgeted behind his back.

Serenity nodded, "Uh, yes sir," she practically squeaked as she fidgeted on the platform. Kaiba in any instance made her uneasy, even when he seemed somewhat affable as he did now.

Nodding, the tall teenager took a card out from behind his back and handed it to Serenity. It was 'Kagemusha of the Blue Flame', a fairly weak two-star monster with a mere eight hundred attack points and half that in defence points. The card, however, was not the usual yellow or orange of a monster card. Rather, it was brilliant silver, seeming as though it were made from burnished metal itself. "All I know, myself, about silver cards is that they can be used any number of times without disintegrating. It's valuable. Treat it well," he told her as he turned away from the group. "Good luck," he called as he left the bunch.

"What was _that _all about?" Tristan asked once the Prince was out of earshot.

"He's an AI, obviously. The real Kaiba probably doesn't have the time to participate in his own game," Serenity explained, eying the card in her hand.

Tristan rolled his eyes, "Well, even I got that. I mean why did they freak out when we called him Kaiba!"

"Because that's not his name," Yugi answered, "He's Prince Seto _of _Kaiba, the country we're in. Cobalt, judging by the name of the academy, is the name of the city, which would make us in Cobalt, Kaiba at the moment."

"Figures Kaiba'd name a country after himself. What an egomaniac!" Tristan declared as the group uniformly exited the stage. "So, what do you say we head into town and see if there's something we can buy or something. I'm going to need a weapon if I'm planning to go toe-to-toe with Garoozis any time soon."

Together, the group headed out into the city of Cobalt. Together, they made the first step into the wide world of Kaiba's imagination, where danger lay beyond every turn and death awaited the overeager or impatient. Together, they began their adventure.

A/N: Yes, I know it wasn't that interesting but it's just the set-up. Next chapter will be better, I promise. Filled with action, and adventure and maybe a duel monster or two! Let me know what you thought anyway, I appreciate any input that I get.


	2. Enter Cloak and Sorcerer

A/N: Well, the reviews that I got were certainly a lot more positive than I expected. Having read over that chapter before, I still don't like it that much but if you guys like what I write more than I do, more power to you. Steampunk, by the way, is a genre of fantasy in which people within a certain timeframe are given technology from beyond that timeframe. In this instance, it's a medieval setting with complex clockworks and steam technology that medieval people obviously didn't have. And rest assured, there is some action in this one. No romance yet, but bear with me, I'll get there… someday.

**Disclaimer**: Don't own the Yu-Gi-Oh, says I, says I.

**Chapter Two: Enter Cloak and Sorcerer**

Cobalt was, in fact, a large city as far as the game was concerned. Housing more than two thousand of the games AI's, the sprawling capital of Kaiba was composed of mainly stone houses arranged around the massive Royal Castle. In the exact middle of the town was the central station of the railway that laced the countryside of the world. The castle itself, a marvel of clockwork, controlled an extendable barrier wall that could surround the city at fifteen minutes notice. The gang had discovered that they'd been furnished with a mere thirty Mokus, the game's currency. They'd also been furnished with a pack containing a bedroll, a card box and a canteen of water. Despite how limited their funding was, they managed to make it go pretty far.

Yugi had outfitted himself with almost a dozen spells he'd decided were indispensable. From Ground Collapse to Hinotama, his arsenal of spells was designed to cater to most of the situations they'd likely encounter. He'd also purchased a rod, for a mere three Mokus, that would enable him to fight the enemy head on of the situation called for it.

The gleaming metal long sword, while generic and cheap, was Tristan's new crowning achievement. He'd also bought a simple chain-link shirt that was meant to protect him against assault. What it accomplished in actuality was to make Tristan crouch and strain to step as he became accustomed to the weight.

Serenity hadn't finished shopping yet. The shopkeeper was an extremely friendly portly man called Torneko who simply wouldn't let them leave. So far, Serenity had purchased a Skull Servant to compliment her other monster, and was quickly finding that finding any monster over level three was a feat. She remained hopeful they'd only run into similarly weak monsters, but for the time being it looked as though she'd be relying on the other two.

"Trust me! If you head out there with nothing but that you're not going to be nothing but bait for the first Worm Drake what comes your way! You need to get yourselves something to keep the baddies away, least till you can handle them," Torneko reiterated as Serenity opted not to purchase a Steel Scorpion she'd been considering, "I'll make you a good deal on some Kuriboh fur. Repels duel monsters like you wouldn't believe. I'll sell you a pack for… how much you got left?"

"Twenty Mokus…" Serenity answered, rolling her eyes slightly. Torneko was obviously pushing for a sale, but he'd been so nice so far that she couldn't help but hear him out.

"I'll give a pack to you for five. You leave with half what you started with!" he insisted, eying her from under his rather preposterous eyebrows.

"I don't know…" the redhead drawled, though she had every intention of taking him up on the offer.

"Serenity," Torneko deadpanned, grabbing her by the shoulders, "I like you too much not to sell you this."

Serenity grinned at the large man in his purple-and-white striped pants. Finally, she gave a resigned shrug, "All right, Torneko, but I'm doing this for you."

A grin came across Torneko's face and the deal was made. A few minutes after that the group found themselves on the streets of Cobalt once again. Another of Yugi's purchases had been a map of the area around Cobalt, and they were trying to decide where to head. The truth was, none of them knew where to start.

"Where do you usually start in these kind of things?" Serenity asked, walking a few stride behind Yugi and abreast of Tristan.

"You try to earn money, level up etc. The quests tend to find you," Tristan replied, taking in the sights of the city.

Yugi nodded a bit, "Perhaps we should try to find someone in need of help and go from there. We should ask around a bit."

And so that's what they did. The process was not as arduous as they had originally assumed it would be. In fact, the game had largely been programmed so that everyone knew of somewhere that someone or something was in need. They had so many offers that they constructed a list of criteria as to what they would and would not consider. In the end, they resolved to head west, along the north side of the Luminescent Forest. There was, allegedly, a sorcerer that required the aid of some cheap warriors shortly beyond there that would likely hire them on for a while. It had the least risk of death of any job that promised at least some combat, so they made for the western gate of Cobalt.

The streets were crowded, giving the recent bustle of activity, when the group came around the turn that lead to the gate. The entire permanent outer wall of Cobalt was built from a deep grey concrete, and the arch that lead out of the city was decorated by flowers and other plants to welcome visitors to the city. It was probably that they were distracted by the sight that caused the collision. Blindly, Tristan walked headlong into another traveller, sending both back a few steps. Immediately, Tristan went on the offensive.

"Watch where you're going!" Tristan called venomously at the other man in the altercation. Slightly taller than Tristan, the man wore a black leather armour suit accented with bronze plates. His jet-black hair fell to his shoulders, framing his deep green eyes. As Tristan yelled, the man's face paled and he apologized straightaway.

"I'm most sorry, sir, it was my fault entirely," the man muttered, bowing slightly.

"No, it was his fault," Serenity corrected from behind Tristan as she inspected the man to be sure he was uninjured. "What's your name?" she asked casually as she completed her inspection of the stranger.

"Michael," he answered, adjusting himself slightly. Twin blades, half a metre in length, rested against either of his legs and he wore a gold-coloured sash across his waist. Despite his impressive appearance, the man carried himself with the poise of a man constantly expecting to be beaten. His face was pale, gaunt, and angular. Despite that, he wasn't unattractive.

"Well, Michael, I'm sorry Tristan here is an idiot. We were on our way out of town and he must've been distracted by something shiny," she stated, intentionally egging Tristan on, knowing he wouldn't do anything with her around.

"You… you were headed out of town? West?" Michael asked tentatively, still seeming extremely jittery.

Serenity nodded, and Tristan gathered what was left of his pride and glared daggers at the man. Yugi simply stood back and enjoyed the spectacle, opting to remain out of any lovesick confrontations.

"If… if that's true… might I go with you?" the black-haired youth asked.

"Absolutely," Serenity and Tristan chimed in unison, the only difference being that Tristan added a 'not' to the end. A glare from Serenity shut the brunette up, however, and she turned back to Michael. "Absolutely," she stated again, and the pale teen smiled in reply.

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Neither Serenity nor Yugi tired of the walking. Having turned the 'pain' setting to off in their game controls, they didn't feel most unpleasant physical sensations. They would get tired, but based on time as opposed to exertion. Conversely, Tristan was exhausted. Machismo had driven him to keep the pain setting on, and now he was drained from kilometres of walking. If Michael was tired, he showed no signs of it.

He was, however, jumpier than ever. Every time a squirrel sneezed within earshot of the group the man nearly leapt out of his skin. Constantly checking over his shoulder, he seemed unhappier every time. Finally, Yugi asked him what the problem was.

"Someone's following us," Michael replied, hushed, as he glanced over his shoulder again.

"What do you mean?" Yugi asked, turning fully around and searching the area behind them, "I don't see anyone."

"He's in the forest," Michael informed him, motioning with his head to the Luminescent Forest just south of the path. The road divided the open plains that composed the free land north before the Terminus Mountains from the forest to the south. About five metres wide, it was flat and level and provided an excellent view into the woods.

Again, Yugi scanned the indicated area, then shook his head, "I don't see it. Perhaps you're just so nervous you're seeing things," he offered, his tone slightly incredulous.

Suddenly, Michael blinked. "He's not in the forest anymore," he told Yugi, and both turned their gaze to the road in front of them.

The man in the road was a good deal taller than even Michael, fully two metres in height. His posture was broad, open almost, but no one would doubt he was aggressive. Dressed in a full black cloak with a hood and cloth to guard his face, the only distinguishable characteristic was the wicked blade protruding from beneath the folds of the fabric. Curving, like a scimitar, it suddenly jutted back at the end into a vicious point. While the tip was down, the man seemed taught and ready. His gaze shifted over the group, gauging each individual.

Tristan had hardly noticed his presence yet, hunched over and gasping for breath. Serenity, on the other hand, had spotted him and was watching him intently. Finally meeting her gaze, the cloaked figure strode toward her. Tristan did notice that, and, not wanting to miss an opportunity to come to Serenity's rescue, leapt into action. Or tried to. His hand reached the handle of the blade and he drew, but the cloaked man was the faster. His foot pounded down on the cross-guard of the blade, driving it back into the scabbard, and the butt of his blade connected with Tristan's face, levelling him.

"That was a foolish decision," he chided as he strode over the brunette's prone body and closer to Serenity. He never made the distance, however, as Michael was upon him by that point.

The black-haired warrior fought like a man possessed. His speed was incredible, and the two short blades arced and slashed as he propelled himself at the foe. Despite that, the enemy seemed unfazed. With his single curving sword he held the two faster weapons at bay, driving them back and down even as he lost ground to the aggressive style Michael preferred. The loss in ground did not last long, however, as the cloaked opponent's parries forced Michael's blades down and out. Predictably, he took the first opening to bring the cruel weapon into a forceful downward arc that the jet-haired warrior knew he couldn't parry. He forced himself back out of the range of the slash, but the foe came at him again, striking from above with powerful slashes.

Serenity quickly realized that Michael, while talented, was overmatched. Pulling the Kagemusha card from the deck case she had purchased, she held up the card and called the name of the monster. Slowly, it began to materialize in front of her. The second it came together, she ordered the beast against their robed antagonist.

Kagemusha drove toward the entwined combatants, sword and staff at the ready. He came in at the side of the foe, lunging forward with his blade. Lightning fast, the assailant's blade snapped right to block the blow and he hooked the spur of his blade around Kagemusha's. Harnessing strength it seemed impossible for the figure to possess, he heaved the stunned duel monster against Michael. The move left his left side open, however, so he withdrew a few steps to reassess the situation, considering his new foe.

Yugi had no intention of giving him the time. Drawing a card from the deck box he'd purchased, he flicked his fingers forward to display the fireball on the surface. "Hinotama!" he declared, focussing the energy of the direct attack spell on the foe.

Beneath the darkness of the hood worn by the assailant, his eyes glinted with joy. Drawing a card from somewhere within his sleeve in his free hand, he declared the name of his counter. "Mystical Refpanel!" he declared, and Yugi suddenly realized his mistake. The spells collided, erupting a malevolent wind from the collision. Out of the collision flew Yugi's fireball, redirected. With it's new target in mind in fell like hail, incinerated Serenity's Kagemusha.

The flash of the incineration dazed Michael, and in an instant the cloaked man was upon him. With a triumphant call of victory from its wielder, the twisting weapon dove from above. Narrowly, Michael managed to pull forward the two short swords and intercept the blow. Driven down by the force of the impact, it was all Michael could do to keep the hungry weapon from his neck. Yugi was ready, though. Calling forth his 'Block Attack' magic card, he neutralized the assault and sent the black form back on his heels. Quickly assuming a defensive pose, the figure's eyes snapped to the caster.

"Just like an adventurer to pick sides when you don't understand the battle!" he spat, still recovering from the concussive force of the neutralizing spell.

"What's there to understand?" Yugi called back, "You attacked us!"

The figure motioned with his head toward the still prone Tristan. "He drew first. I defended myself and then that _wretch_," he declared, pointing his free, gloved hand toward Michael, "attacked me. Mind you I'd relish the opportunity to kill that one."

Both Yugi and the figure realized that the spell was wearing off. The figure bore himself carefully, but his eyes were darting furiously about, analyzing the situation. Yugi turned to Michael, "Quickly, take care of him while he still can't attack!"

Michael nodded and rushed the foe, but he had a magic card in his hand a second later. The card erupted forth in energy, and for a moment all that any of them knew was a blinding white light. When it cleared, the man was gone.

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"All systems operating at normal levels, sir," the tech observing activity in the Overmind reported as he leapt from menu to menu on the computer screen. "All electrodes firing at regular rates, response times are functioning at human capacity. We have action in all occupied sectors, simulated life in every biome. In short, things are functioning flawlessly so far."

Mokuba nodded, glancing from the window in the control room into the Overmind's chamber. The massive supercomputer almost throbbed with life, calculating the movement of every character in the game regardless of whether or not there was any player there to observe it. Already, the key points of the plot were being set into motion.

Turning to another one of the techs, he glanced at the monitor in front of them. "How's neural activity in the subjects?" he asked, glancing at the streaming figures relaying information about each occupant of Kaiba's world.

"Functioning well within permissible bounds, less than a point-three percent margin of misfire errors. Corporeal communication is cut off by the inhibitors, intercept rate at one hundred percent. They're working even better than Mr. Kaiba anticipated! Feeling simulation is running at optimum as well. I'm noting than only half a dozen of the subjects have the pain setting on. It's proving as unpopular as you predicted, Mr. Mokuba," the tech responded as he glanced through most of the important protocols. The technology was incredibly complex, but the realism accomplished by this latest wave of VR machines was unprecedented.

Mokuba nodded, directing his gaze into the test room itself. Everything had to be perfect. Seto had spent far too much time on this project for it to be anything less. Redirecting his gaze to the large monitor mounted high on the wall over the window to the Overmind's chamber, he finally gave the order. "Turn on the rendering program, roving setting," he ordered, and lifted his eyes to watch the proceedings.

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The group, now a foursome since the addition of Michael, sat in an alcove in the woods. Free of any actual vegetation, the small area was nevertheless under the protection of the treetops, making it an ideal campsite. Their newest addition had set up the campfire for the, and they all stared quietly into the fire. Michael had been the only one that had thought to bring food, as his meagre rations made less than a meal for the entire group. Rumblings of stomachs accompanied bullfrogs' calls coming from inside the wood to the south.

What they were not talking about, specifically, was their thoughts on the attacker from earlier that day. The warrior seemed to outclass them, had even employed spells against them, and yet he had chosen to retreat from the field. Serenity gnawed absent-mindedly on a chunk of jerky made from Kaiba-only-knew-what. The combatant had started after her, but why? What had singled her out from the rest of the group? Perhaps, confused, the assailant had thought that she was the biggest threat. That seemed unlikely.

"So you're from Cobalt, then?" Michael asked to no one specifically, not pulling his gaze from the glowing campfire.

"No," Yugi answered as he prodded the fire with a stick, "We're actually not from Kaiba at all. We're from…" he had to guess at what a major distance might be in this world, "across the sea." The guess seemed to be correct, as Michael's eyes widened at that.

"You're from Venyore? Other than the Dragon Prince and King Aildren, I've never even heard of anyone going there!" he declared, genuine awe in his voice.

"Dragon Prince?" Yugi asked, glancing up from the fire to regard Michael.

"Prince Seto," Michael clarified, turning his head to return Yugi's gaze, "We call him the Dragon Prince because he has… an unnatural affinity for dragons. Once, when he was a child, one of the rebellious nobles sent a Darkfire Dragon to kill him while he was training with General Shale. When the dragon came down on him, he held his hand out to it and extinguished the flame dragon with sheer force of will. He has a strange power over them, or so I'm told. I've never seen him use it, myself.

"He's been the de facto ruler of Kaiba since King Aildren fell ill some time ago. Mind you, a lot of his duties are handled by the other two members of the triumvirate, but even so he's one of the most powerful men in the world."

Serenity laughed a bit, "We must sound like backwater people to you, but would you mind explaining which triumvirate?"

"Really?" Michael asked as he turned his face toward Serenity, "You Venyorans must be really ignorant about us, no offence. In truth, Kaiba is controlled mostly by the rulers of the fiefs and city-states that make up most of the land. What there is that Cobalt cares enough about to enforce its rule on is governed equally by the three members of the triumvirate: the church, the royals and the military," he explained, shifting a bit on the ground to flatten the grass around him. Sighing a bit, he continued, "The royals are lead by King Aildren who, as I told you, is on his deathbed ill. The church is headed by Deiprelate Remiel, who is now in his third century. He lives, but his mind is so far gone that the Council of Prelates makes all of the church's decisions. As for the military, well, Warlord Fallacian is the only true ruler on the triumvirate, which probably explains why the military has so much more power than everyone else. The church has been making concession after concession to seemingly no gain and the royals are happy just to hold on to the little power that remains in their grasp. Politics around here are… a sad state of affairs.

"But tell me about Venyore! Is it true that you have different stars from us, and that your ruler is a duel monster?" Michael asked enthusiastically as he glanced about at the group. They all felt awkward, of course, because they knew less about Venyore than they did about Kaiba.

It was Yugi who was the first to find a suitable escape. "I hope you can see Venyore yourself someday, Michael. Seeing it would be so much better than what I could describe to you," he explained, forcing a smile to seem sincere.

"I'd love that," Michael replied, a dream in his voice as his eyes found their way skyward, "but only the royals' lode ships can cross that kind of distance. Everything else has to stop at the Isles of Serendipity."

"In any case," Tristan chimed in for the first time in a while, "we should focus on what we're doing right now. After all, if we don't make it to that sorcerer's tower we'll never make it past that."

The jet-haired youth nodded a bit and made his way to his feet. He'd calmed down once his stalker seemed to disappear, and had done so even more as he became more comfortable with the group. "Want to spar a bit, Tristan? I could probably teach you a thing or two about using that sword there. You wouldn't want another embarrassment like what happened with that cloaked man."

Tristan growled a bit, but couldn't refuse the offer. He'd been embarrassed while trying to protect Serenity, and he wasn't going to let it happen again. Hopping to his feet, he and Michael parted from the group and made their way to a level spot on the road within the glow of the fire. Shaking his head and grinning, Yugi made his way into his bedroll and faded into sleep.

Serenity sat opposite the sparring match and watched the two combatants for some time. She found herself struck by the beauty of this world that Kaiba had created. Even out here sleeping in the wilderness, she felt more comfortable than she ever did at home. The stars shone valiantly against the darkness of night, defying the encircling shadows to deny their light. Twinkling in the sky they illuminated the forest around her, trees she'd likely never see in Domino growing in swarms like they once had in Japan. The wild, untamed wilderness, even just a few feet from the path, was invigorating. Verdant, vivacious air enclosed her, smelling of purity and life. Finally, she found her own way into her sleeping bag, falling asleep to commands like 'faster', 'be more aggressive', 'focus on form' and 'gotta do better'.

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Early in the morning they reached the town they had headed for. It was a small town, with less than fifty inhabitants, and centred on a large blue dome. The dome, they knew, was that of the sorcerer they were looking for. Heading into the small town, called simply Wood's Edge, the group deftly made their way to the objective. This was what they were here for, the first step in beginning the quest they had set out on. Sifting through what little foot traffic there was, they made their way to the central dome and entered through curved iron doors.

Immediately, the room shifted and turned around them, pressurized steam engines pulling the thin aluminum floor up the edges of the dome and to their objective. The floor, designed for the ride, closed in tightly as it slid up the sheer concrete walls. When it reached the apex of its climb the roof was comfortably low and the ring of floor that had made the ascent had fitted perfectly around a well-designed wooden platform hanging from the ceiling.

The robed figure standing in the middle of that platform was a living stereotype. Robed in deep grey, archaic robes with a full silver beard and lengthy hair, he languidly turned to regard his guests and cocked a bushy eyebrow in their direction. "Welcome," he rumbled in a deep throaty voice, and grinned at the group.

A/N: That should close up the most important parts of the initial set-up. Let me know what you thought, what was good and bad, that sort of thing. Kudos to anyone who recognized Torneko. He's one of my favourite video game characters ever, so I just had to give him the gig. Again, let me know what you thought. It's you guys that motivate me to skip homework to write this!


	3. Vagaries of Fate

A/N: This chapter, I like. It contains what is one of my favourite fight scenes I've ever written, as well as some settings that I feel do well to give you a glimpse into Kaiba's world. Also in this chapter, we get a deeper shot into the game itself, and a bit of foreshadowing maybe? Well, you'll just have to read and see. Thank you, by the way, for all the marvellous reviews I've read so far. They're the only reason that, despite an impossible homework load, I was able to finish this chapter.

**Disclaimer**: Confucius say: Generic Hero does not own Yu-Gi-Oh!

**Chapter Three: Vagaries of Fate**

The rendering program functioned flawlessly, giving them a view of the goings on within the program. It was unpleasantly invasive, they knew, and required the program to interpret brain activity from those it was viewing to accurately represent the image. What they saw was, however, satisfying. The program was running flawlessly, every possible contingency had been prepared for. They had, so far, only taken steps to activating the full program. Certain portions needed to still be added. That was why Mokuba was hardly surprised to hear the report from one of the techs.

"Mokuba, sir? Master Kaiba's orders have just arrived. He says to activate the Fate Generation Matrix," the tech reported, his trepidation showing through his normally stoic voice.

Mokuba inhaled sharply, glancing at the statistics on the screen in front of him. Certainly the statistics warranted it but… even so. The Fate Generation Matrix. Kaiba had known that in all mythological worlds fate plays an important role. That had been part of why he had implemented that program. It was a massive web-work connecting every being within the game. He had analyzed every aspect of draw between people, from vengeance to friendship, physical attraction to hate, love to curiosity. Every force that drew people together, or pushed them apart, was governed by that piece of programming, the Fate Generator. Capable of implanting knowledge even into players within the game, or of implanting sensations and emotions into them, the program was dangerous. It had been perfected over a lengthy period of time, and had received health and safety approval, but everyone save for Kaiba himself was wary of the program.

Still, Mokuba trusted his brother's judgement. "Do it," he ordered. "And set the view screen to view the fate matrix," he added.

Mokuba looked up to the screen as it switched to the desired chart. It was a web, now containing well over ten thousand subjects, mapping the in game ties of fate between them. Sporadically, ties began forming between characters. These ties lacked the force of a natural emotion, but they could influence the way one person reacted to another. In tests, Kaiba had been able to draw together couples from people who didn't even know each other in less than an hour if a thread of fate existed between them. It was the fate machine that made the buffer between death and exiting the program, or between game entrance and commencement, so important. Early characters testing the fate generator who hadn't had the buffer had been governed by implanted emotions for some time before finally the effect had worn off.

Kaiba said that all those problems were gone now, however. The Fate Generation Matrix would take personality, logged actions and preferences into mind and create ties. It would generate important character attributes that could not be created any other way and would spur the game proper into action. Without the generator the game lost much of its complexity. Kaiba had pushed it with all his enthusiasm.

Finally drawing himself out of his contemplations, Mokuba looked up at the chart in time to catch recognition of some of the players he knew. A smile crossed his face as he noted the colour and subjects of their own strands of destiny. "Serenity," he muttered to himself as the chart continued to form and evolve, "it would seem fate favours you."

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"My name is Plates," the sorcerer explained to the group regarding him, "and you are the first to find your way to answer my call. I trust you all are here to answer that call?"

The group looked amongst themselves, nodding in turn. Michael had, too, been on his way to answer this sorcerer's call and so had happily agreed to work with the rest of the gang. The sorcerer smiled at them and nodded, "Good. Tell me, what do you all know about spirinetics?"

"Spirinetics?" Michael replied first, "Isn't it the study of the properties and attributes of the soul?"

Plates nodded, "Yes, that's correct. I was, for much of my life, a spirinetician. I studied the human soul in depth. I was, in fact, foremost in the field. But that was quite some time ago. I gave up spirinetics when it became more than a research science. Many spirineticians, you see, were more worried about how to _apply_ the knowledge than the collection of it itself.

"The human soul, you see, is the essence of magic. All magic, even that which we use magic cards to harness, is powered by the power of the soul. Summoning too. While monster cards can be refined by the trapping and conversion of monsters, it is much more efficient simply to refine it from a soul that is no longer in use."

"No longer in use?" Yugi balked, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"The bodies of the dead," Plates replied calmly, "when placed into one of the spirit fountains across the land, can be turned into the monster card inherent of that person's soul. It's a practice we've long had, but only now are we beginning to fully understand why it occurs. Spirinetics teaches us that the soul of a person contains the essence of that magic, and that is why this procedure works."

"But wouldn't that mean… you're consuming the spirit of the person!" Serenity replied, the idea not sitting well with her. Already, she was beginning to regret becoming a summoner. The idea that she was to use dead souls as her weapons in her adventures was… unsettling at best.

"No. In truth, this refinement process is necessary to the preservation of the world. Those whose souls are not refined in this manner can become wild, erratic duel monsters, or worse, they can become malevolent spirits. The practice of soul refinement, along with the practice of soul binding, are the most merciful uses for the soul once the body can no longer use it," Plates replied as he made his way back to the table, "I explain all of this to you know because it is important to the mission I have for you.

"Are you familiar with the existence of silver cards?" he asked, gazing down at a large book on his desk.

"I have one," Serenity answered as she drew the card from her deck box, "here it is."

"Mhm…" Plates replied, picking up the book in his long frail arms, "Silver cards are the refined souls of those whose lives were ended before their destiny. Those who die when it is not their time, whose souls are refined, become silver cards so that they may fulfill whatever it is they still have left to accomplish.

"This is a fact that, dolefully, some spirineticians seek to exploit. It has recently come to my attention that some such men are in this region, within the Luminescent Forest to the south, and are increasingly dangerous. Using this principle, they are kidnapping and killing adventurers. Then, they are refining their bodies in order to gain valuable silver cards. This, I cannot allow."

Tristan's eyes widened, "Who would do such a thing?"

"Royals," Michael answered venomously, "Everyone knows they're always seeking more power. It's said that the Dragon Prince carries several silver cards himself. If there's any reason that those guys are doing this, they're doing it for the royals."

"I can't believe it!" Serenity replied, turning to Michael, "We met Prince Seto. He didn't… I can't believe he'd do such a thing."

"Who it is is no concern of mine," Plates interjected, "nor is their motivation. My only concern is that you stop them. You, boy with the rainbow hair."

"Yugi, sir," Yugi replied as he turned back toward Plates.

Plates opened the book and withdrew a card from between two pages, "I hope you understand the importance of this task. Take this card, which I've been saving for some time, and use it to put an end to those dogs in the forest. I've enchanted the card to allow someone of your level to use it."

Taking the card from the frail sorcerer's hand, Yugi recognized it at once. It was a card he's used many times himself, and he knew it would fit the task if it had two. Quickly, he tucked the Mirror Force trap card into his deck case, "Thank you, sir. I won't let you down."

"No, you won't," the man agreed as he stepped back onto his platform and pulled a lever. Instantly, the platform sprung to life and began lowering them down the dome. As they descended, Yugi heard the man call out, "But you might disappoint the rest of the adventurers whose lives may hang on this mission."

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"It's got to be that cloaked man we ran into," Michael hypothesized as they made their way out of the city, "That would explain why he attacked us without cause. We were in the right area, too."

"Yeah, it makes sense. But if it's him, we're going to have a hard time of taking him down. From the look of things, he was pretty intense," Yugi replied, pausing to pick a route from the outskirts of the city down into the woods. The Luminescent Forest, for the most part, was lower than most of the surrounding area. It was, in fact, a marsh out of which a forest had grown.

"I could've handled him if he hadn't gotten the jump on me," Tristan boasted as they began their descent.

"Oh, Tristan, that's just not true. I'm sure you're getting better after all the training Michael gave you, but that guy was a pro," Serenity responded.

Michael nodded his agreement, "He's dangerous alright. Still, with that Mirror Force trap card I'm sure we can beat him. I've seen it used before. It's not lightly overcome."

"The problem shouldn't be beating him, especially with this card, it'll be finding him. Judging from this map of Kaiba, the Luminescent Forest is pretty huge. And I doubt he'll be as eager to find us if he knows we're hunting him," Yugi reasoned.

The group reached the edge of their descent and began navigating their way through the forest. The entire base of the forest was drown in thirty centimetres or so of water, although a framework of roots that held the floor together made it possible to traverse the marshy terrain without getting wet. The trees of the forest, some of the most ancient in Kaiba, towered high above them. The canopy above, which let little but flitting rays through its guard, blocked almost all light out.

It took them till well past noon to work their way into the mass. Immediately, it became clear that the forest itself contained a network of paths that composed the only usable form of navigation. Working their way through the morass of vegetation, each began to realize that they were being watched.

Michael was the first to mention it. "Can you feel those eyes on us? Do you think that its possible that he found us already?"

"Yeah… I can feel that someone's watching us," Tristan admitted, "But if it's him, why doesn't he do something?"

"I don't know, but it's making me uneasy. Serenity?" Yugi called.

Serenity hadn't slowed or stopped when the conversation began, and as she turned she found herself several paces away from the rest of the group. She shot a questioning glance at Yugi, before finally walking back to the group. "What?" she asked in reply to the questioning glances she received.

"Don't wander off, Serenity!" Tristan admonished.

"Don't worry, Tristan," Serenity replied, "Look around! Come on, what's the worst thing that could be lurking in a place this beautiful!"

Michael laughed a little, albeit nervously, "I'm glad you feel that way, Serenity, but there are dangerous things in this forest. We should stick together."

"A little ironic, coming from you Michael. Wouldn't you say?" the familiar cloaked figure asked as he stepped out from behind a nearby tree.

"You!" Michael cried, drawing his swords in an instant and turning to regard the cloaked man. As quickly as possible, the rest of the gang followed suit, drawing their weapons and forming a rudimentary defensive position.

"I'm surprised to find you in this forest, adventurers. To be honest, I thought I'd scared you off entirely. I'm glad to see that's not the case."

"Why, so you can use us to harvest your precious silver cards?" Tristan snapped.

The cloak tilted his head to the side, and then shrugged. "This is the first I've heard of it," he declared, "although if a spirinetician were looking to do so they could hardly choose a better place than here."

"Don't listen to him!" Michael advised, "I think I remember this dog from Cobalt. He's a liar."

"The gods of irony are smiling today, Michael, that I'm standing here while you call me a liar. Why are you here? Do they have you keeping tags on adventurers, now?"

"I'm here to protect these people against the likes of you and to defeat those monsters that would kill adventurers for personal gain," Michael shot back.

The cloak seemed amused by that. He turned his head back west and tilted his neck slowly and deliberately, "If that's what you're looking to do, then you ought to head back to Cobalt. That's where you're needed most."

"Yeah, it's about time someone put the royals in their place!"

That did not amuse the cloak. Drawing his sword in an instant, he charged at Michael and Tristan who stood in defence of the other two. Tristan hit first, in a charge, striking at the form from above. Blocking the slash with his own blade, the cloak kicked Tristan hard in the stomach driving him away from the scuffle. He came against Michael next, slashing in hard from overhead. Michael's twin blades worked furiously against the high arcing sweeps the cloaked man led with, but it was all he could do to keep the furious sword at bay. The sword swept from above again and Michael, finding the rhythm of the battle, brought his blades up in a cross block.

Exactly the move the cloak had been expecting. The blade stopped suddenly, and drew backward in a flash. Readjusting its angle, the blade snapped forward at Michael's heart. Yugi almost used Mirror Force then and there, but he hesitated. It proved to be a fortuitous move. No sooner had the blade snapped forward then it was thrust aside by Kagemusha's blade. His staff, in turn, came in at the same time, a wide arced path bringing it over Michael's head in a diving strike. The cloak was not caught totally off guard, though, and brought his free arm up to block the strike. The blow clearly caused him some pain but it stopped a fatal head blow.

Quickly stepping backward, the cloak assessed the two foes. He'd fought them in concert before, but he doubted they'd be so foolish as to fall for the same manoeuvre twice. This was going to be interesting. His foes came in fast. Kagemusha's blade came in from his right and his blade snapped over to meet it. Driving the offending weapon away it snapped back in time to parry a double slash from Michael. The angle made a slash at the black-haired youth impossible, but he fired his hand forward nevertheless, his knuckles connecting with the bridge of the boy's nose. He was unable to continue the move, though, being forced to bring his blade back across to defeat Kagemusha's next attack.

Hooking the monster's staff in the spur of his blade, he pulled it up to stop the falling blade the monster had delivered. In a single motion he could have driven his blade forward and stabbed the creature to death. He didn't have time, however, as he brought his blade back across in a wild spin to deflect a flurry of attacks from his other opponent. Even as he did so, he retreated a few steps. His third opponent was up again and it was unlikely he'd be able to hold off all three by himself.

Tristan came in hard on the cloak's retreating steps. He led with a thrust he thought would be able to defeat the obviously occupied warrior. The cloak, however, was no amateur. Throwing himself backward, he used the spur of his blade to grant momentum to the lunge, embedding the blade in the trunk of one of the titanic trees of the forest. With a barrier now between him and his antagonists, he quickly dashed to the side of another tree, seeing the need in attaining the high ground of the root network against his myriad foes. Not even being granted the time to catch his breath, his blade was again crossing over two foes to keep his hide intact.

His sword work was dazzling, high arcing slashes driving away three swords and a staff all at once. On the left side, his blade drove Michael's weapons outward, continually forcing his hands together to allow him to parry the two weapons as one. Then, snapping right, he drove Kagemusha's blade down, snapped in to force the staff into a quick parry and even managed to bring the flat of his blade in an opportunistic slap across the monster's face before it was needed left again. His blade drove Michael's out again, but any routine is dangerous in battle. Michael, predicting the move, kept the far blade too low to be struck by the parry. Quickly, he brought it back across to slash at the cloak's stomach. It was exactly the opening the man needed.

Leaping back against the trunk of the tree, he deftly dodged the blow. Then, converting his momentum, he kicked off the tree and over the off balance warrior. He landed behind him and in that instant he might have ended the boy's life, but an adrenaline-heightened sense of awareness warned him of Tristan's attack from behind. He spun in a fraction of a second. His free hand shot up and grabbed both of Tristan's, clutching his blade tightly, and defeated the attack. More than that, it left Tristan's belly exposed. His hungry blade leapt forward for blood. It struck, but it never drew blood.

Yugi's Mirror Force trap card sprung into effect at Yugi's call, instantly stopping the blade on impact. Furthermore, the spell fired back the energy straight through the cloaked figure's side, sending chunks of black fabric flying in a cone on the other side of the wound. Badly injured, the figure fell to a knee, gasping for breath. Tristan was eager to make the kill and prove his worth, though, and he drew back his sword for the final strike. The blade flashed downward.

"Tristan, no!" Serenity cried in horror, and Tristan jerked the blade to the side in shock, narrowly missing the figure's shoulder. In unison, every person in the small clearing turned to regard Serenity. In that moment of distraction, the figure put some distance between himself and his opponents, nearly collapsing not far away against the side of one of the titanic trees. Slowly, the black figure pulled his eyes up to regard the girl. From underneath his hood she could see his eyes were a tumult of confusion. She imagined that they mirrored her own.

Michael wasn't about to be dissuaded by a yell from the girl, however, and raced at the weakened form of the cloaked man. His twins blades came in a cross to cut the enemy's head clean off. Both his blades, however, met steel. For an instant he didn't understand. It was an impossible block! Then, he saw his foe's protectors. From either side of the tree had emerged two Knights of Landstar, their blades blocking his own. But how? The figure had been unable to make a summon.

The answer became obvious as dozens of the little Landstar creatures poured out from around in the trees. Brigadiers of Landstar provided ranged support for the Swordsmen and Knights of Landstar composing the main task force. Surrounding the group quickly and efficiently, it became obvious that there was nothing they could do against such a force. Had it been an ambush? It was possible, but why would such a dark figure use such bright and cheery monsters?

No, the creatures were native. That much was obvious to all of them. Why, then, had they chosen to come to the aid of the figure? The questions remained unanswered as the creatures rounded them up. Their weapons were taken from them, their cards, Kagemusha was dismissed and they were ushered into a manageable line. Four of the creatures scooped up the body of the cloaked man and carried him ahead of them.

"Serenity, why didn't you let me kill him?" Tristan hissed as the fell into the groove of the march, "I had him!"

"I… I don't know…" Serenity admitted. Her mind was asking her the same question. It was obvious the man was their enemy. He was killing people to extract cards from their bodies! He was the target of the job they had taken. And yet… when it came down to it, something inside her screamed that it was all wrong.

In their well-defended ring of Landstar monsters, they travelled until dusk. Through the forest, atop the framework of roots, they passed for hours. Finally, they came to a particularly dense area of the forest. Navigating them through a series of tight twists and turns, they finally found themselves stepping out of the woods and into a massive clearing.

"Landstar!" Michael declared in awe, as the group realized that they were in the home of the creatures that were now their captives.

The entire city, if you could call it that, was walled in by barriers of densely packed massive trees. Even above the sizable clearing was covered by the canopy of the trees. Very little light filtered through the trees. It simply wasn't needed. All around them the natural light that gave Landstar, and in turn the Luminescent Forest, its name shone. Below the water that covered the floor of the forest, an incredible light shone. Every crevice and crack in Landstar shone with that brilliance, almost as if they were walking atop a spotlight.

In fact, because of the intensity of that light, the people of Landstar made their homes in small wooden structures hanging from the canopy far above. Faerie lights shone from above to match the full, brilliant glow that was Landstar. There was only one exception. In the middle of the clearing, formed from the roots that made the ground walkable, was a structure of no small stature. As beautiful as the area itself, a latticework of roots came together to form a building that seemed to reach for the heavens above. Spires of natural lumber were lit by the supernatural light from below. Brown and green and verdant, the structure was the centre of Landstar.

"A prison?" Yugi asked curiously as their guards led them toward the structure, but he didn't believe the words as they left his lips. Ahead of them, the four creatures bearing the cloaked form entered the structure.

"A palace, more likely," Serenity replied, her eyes taking in the beauty of their surroundings. The world grew more fantastic with every sight! Compared to her home, a prison here would be a paradise.

"But then is that cloaked man our host?" Michael asked as they marched on.

"In any case, we'll know soon enough," Tristan answered.

Finally, they reached the stylistic archway of the structure. There, their captors stopped. One of the little puffballs motioned his head toward the doorway and squealed something unintelligible. The group understood, however, and walked cautiously into the structure.

Once inside, they realized that the structure had been built on the centre of whatever the light was that lit the city. The main room, a hall built around a central dais, was flooded with the light to the point of being almost unbearable. It took a few moments for any of them to be able to open their eyes. When they did, they found the sight remarkable.

High above them on the dais, though certainly better dressed, was the exact image of Serenity Wheeler. The woman leaned down and smiled at the group, then turned and flashed a curious look to the girl she realized to be identical to herself. Leaning back, she spoke aloud finally, her voice smooth and stately.

"Welcome, adventurers, to Landstar. I am the Countess of Landstar. On behalf of all those who dwell here, I welcome you to our court."

"Not like we had much choice in the matter," Tristan muttered.

"Tristan!" Serenity hissed.

"No, little mirror girl, don't rebuke him. It's true that your coming was not what you may have wished it to be. Still, we needed to stop the battle in our forest. If my little soldiers hadn't intervened, you'd have killed a very dear friend of mine," she replied, smiling softly at them all the while.

A sharp intake of breath was heard from all of the adventurers. So the cloaked man, the murdering spirintologist, was her friend? It seemed an omen of what their visit would be. Smiling pretentiously, the woman looked down on the group in front of them. It was strange; Serenity had been the one to save the cloaked figure's life. Despite that, she had a hard time stifling the urge to throttle the woman.


	4. Clockworks and Gears

A/N: Here we go again… Again, bear with me, the romance is coming. I know, you haven't seen Seto in the last two chapters, and he isn't in this one either. But it's coming. I promise. What this chapter does contain is more action (my first fight scene with a non-humanoid, but certainly not the last), more plot and necessary build up for what's coming. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed! You people are marvellous.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own anything.

**Chapter Four: Clockworks and Gears**

The rooms they had been provided with were comfortable, but the guards at their door stood to remind them that they were not free people. The Countess had informed them that they would be released the next day. Until then, they could only sit and wait.

"How could anyone sleep here?" Tristan groaned as he lay atop one of the human-sized beds in the room. "That disturbing light from outside won't die down. It's driving me nuts!"

"Too many questions," Yugi muttered as he sat on the foot of another of the beds. "Does anyone know what's going on?"

Leaning against the wall, Michael scoffed. "All I know is that we need to kill that spirintologist before he gets out of here and back to work. He's injured. If we only had our weapons this would be our opportunity!"

"It's not worth the risk," Yugi replied. "There must be almost a hundred of those Landstar creatures here. We're under their control, at least for the moment."

Serenity nodded slowly, listening to every word of the conversation from the seat at the window. Despite the desperateness of their situation, the beauty of Landstar enthralled her. She had questions of her own of course. Why had she told Tristan not to kill the cloaked man? Why had Kaiba chosen her image for such a seemingly malevolent woman? He was a difficult man to understand, to be sure, but still…

Outside, for a split second, the light below the water was extinguished. Then, an instant later, it flashed into a cool blue light, washing all of Landstar in its renewed glow. One by one, the faerie lights above them changed to match the tone, the softer light basking the clearing in an artificial light. "So this is night in Landstar…" Serenity muttered to herself.

A few minutes later the door opened, and a particularly proud looking Knight of Landstar glided into the room. Cruising at a shoulder-level altitude, we made his way to Michael. He tapped the youth on the shoulder to gain his attention, and then motioned for him to follow. With little choice in the matter, he complied.

The small, cute creature led him through several turns until they returned to the central hall. There sat the Countess of Landstar, on her dais, and beside her stood the familiar cloaked figure. Standing already! It was obvious that the creatures of Landstar were incredible healers.

"Michael, thank you for answering my summons," the Countess said sweetly, smiling her continual smile at the young man.

"It would seem I don't have much choice in the matter, Countess. You've taken my weapons from me, and left me unarmed in the presence of an enemy," he replied, more harshly than he'd intended to.

"Too true, and for that I apologize, but I allow no fighting in Landstar. You will find that for the duration of your stay you will be protected from this man, whom you consider your enemy. You will find no harm from him."

"Nor satisfaction?" he asked.

"No, neither that. I have brought you here, at his call, to answer the questions he feels need to be asked," she explained, turning her head to regard the cloaked form.

"He'll get no answers from me! He's a villain, a monster," Michael retorted.

"I would beware who you call monsters, Michael," the figure warned sternly as he stepped forward from the Countess' side. "You are in a court of monsters, if you can call the harmless inhabitants of Landstar that. But if you mean that to be a pejorative term, I'm forced once again to marvel at the irony of that. After all, aren't you the one who caused your brother's death by your desertion of him not so long ago?"

"Shut up!" Michael cried, "I had no other choice."

"Indeed!" was the response from the cloaked man. "Now, why are you with the adventurers?"

"I already told you," Michael sneered, "To defend against-"

"Save it!" the cloak snapped. "Your kind place no value on their lives. You would kill them the second you felt it suited your needs."

"Well, that's the opinion of a clearly biased royal," Michael answered coolly.

"No, that's well researched fact from someone who has-"

"That's enough, both of you!" Countess of Landstar declared as she sat forward on her throne. Then, to the cloak, "I expect you to be cordial to my guests for as long as you are in my court. That has not changed."

The cloak grunted from beneath his cloak, then retreated on the dais. "Of course, Countess," he replied.

"And Michael. I promised you that no harm would come to you in Landstar and to that I hold. However, if you plan to bring those adventurers to harm I can only advise you to change your course. If you harm them, I doubt even _your_ powerful allies will be able to protect you from your fate."

Michael bowed, and returned to the room.

"You would do well to control your temper around him, my friend. You're right, there is certainly something sinister about him, but I'm not sure he's as much of a danger to them as you believe," the Countess told the cloaked figure once Michael was out of earshot.

"This one I've run into before. He's one of Azreal's men."

"The blackguard?" the Countess asked incredulously.

"The same. Didn't you note the colour of the sash he wore?" the cloak asked.

"Gold… I understand. What's the source of your own draw to the group, then?"

"Initially, it was the girl. Her resemblance to yourself is striking."

"Ah, the little mirror girl," the Countess declared, smiling slightly.

"Indeed," the cloak replied with a slight scoff, "After that, I pursued them because of Michael. The man has two brothers, one is dead and the other is a thief. Of the three, he's the worst. An unprincipled blackguard with a taste for espionage. Twice now have I sought to remove him from the group. Twice has that rainbow-haired sorcerer thwarted me! Mirror Force! How could he be powerful enough to use such a spell?"

"He isn't," came the Countess' reply. "They had help. It doesn't matter. In any case, you will not harm them, _any _of them, from now on."

"With all due respect, my dear Countess, you lack the authority to give such an order to me."

"True enough," the Countess admitted, "But it doesn't interest you to do so. If you wish to save them, you must leave the man alone. He has beaten you to their trust. They will defend him now, particularly from you. I know you don't wish to have to kill them, although I don't doubt your ability to do so."

The cloak bowed stiffly, "As always, Countess, you are as wise as you are beautiful. I will stay in the shadows, but I will still watch."

The Countess smiled slightly as the man left her hall. What a mystery that one was! One moment he would take the slightest order from her, but as soon as it didn't suit him to do so he was dangerously indignant. Passionate, if not compassionate, the man was ever a mystery to the wise ruler of the forest. Shrugging off her friend, she turned to one of the pudgy figures lining her hall. "Have the others see me before they leave tomorrow."

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"I appreciate your patience with us. I understand that your stay here was not anticipated, or desired, and that you most likely hold some resentment against us," the Countess began, but she was cut short.

"Yeah, for harbouring that scoundrel, our enemy!" Tristan shouted.

"He is not your enemy unless you would make him your enemy, and that I would not advise. That man is not the sort you would wish to have against you," she explained courteously.

"I understand your concern, Countess, but you should know that he's a wanted criminal," Yugi explained. "He's been killing adventurers in order to turn their souls into silver cards."

The Countess smiled slightly, then tilted her head back and giggled briefly. "You think… _he_ is doing that? Oh, I'm afraid that's preposterous. Ah, but now it all makes sense. The men you are looking for, for there are two of them, left the forest fleeing from the guns of my brigadiers not long ago."

Jaws dropped from the guests at the base of the dais. "I… I'm sorry," Yugi explained, "we only assumed…"

"Don't concern yourselves. If you truly intend to defeat those men, that will be penance enough for your misjudgement of my friend. The men you seek fled to the town of Pinion. You will find it if you head southeast of here," the Countess elaborated with a smile.

"Thank you, Countess," Serenity remarked sweetly, curtsying slightly.

"Little mirror girl?" the Countess called softly.

"Yes?"

"You have a noble face," the Countess stated simply, "Wear it well."

Serenity gave a crooked smile at the queer remark. "I'll try," she replied. Perhaps the Countess wasn't so bad. Perception could make monsters out of anyone.

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Pinion was an outpost of two hundred, one of the larger settlements east of Cobalt. The village has been built by one of the greatest machinists in Kaiba, an ambitious man named Cog Tanner. Cog's life was machines, and the town that he had built reflected it. His personal keep was the northernmost building in the town, having control over a wall that was the prototype of Cobalt's retracting wall. Massive cogwheels composed the outer walls of the building, connecting to a dozen clockwork machines that made up much of the city.

In the centre of the city, providing most of its power was a spring. The spring was kept under a massive machine that harnessed the hydraulic pressure to power the machines in town. And, oh, what machines they had! The entire farmed area of the town was ploughed by machine and irrigated by the wastewater from the generator. Another machine ran a sort of reverse windmill, taking input energy and turning it into a breeze to fan the often-humid town whenever needed. Yet another machine crushed rocks into gravel for construction, another churned milk into butter and another manoeuvred a giant mirror to direct sunlight wherever needed. The entire city was a mass of machines, exactly like Cog Tanner wanted. It was situated atop a hill; on one side facing a steep decline into the Luminescent Forest and on the other the rocky crags west of the Cur Desert.

The climb to the city was unpleasant. Buffeted by hot winds from the desert and warm rains from the forest, the town was hot enough to warrant the giant fan Cog had built. When the group finally did reach the top, it took each of them a few moments to gather in the sight of the unorthodox town. It seemed to be on the verge of war. More than a quarter of the town's two hundred were dressed in armour, many running drills with nets and rope poles in the square around the generator. It didn't take them long to discern where they might find the leader of the city.

Heading into the keep on the north face of the village, the found themselves inside a giant clockwork machine. Cogwheels and gears churned and turned all around them, most of the keep itself was built atop the gears. Cog had nailed what little furniture he used to some of the larger gears and used them as his separate rooms. As a result, he rarely had company.

Presently, the stocky man was perched over a desk on the base floor of his keep. Quickly scanning various blueprints and designs, the thin-framed glasses atop his bulbous nose slipped down again and again. Finally becoming aware of his company, the short man turned to regard the foursome.

"May I help you with something?" he asked when none of them said anything straightaway.

"Yes, umm…" Tristan began.

"Bear in mind that I'm very busy and not particularly apt to help anyone anyways, but hurry up and state your query," he grunted impatiently as he turned back to his blueprints.

"Geez, he acts almost like Plates, if he'd speak a little nicer," Serenity muttered as she watched the man move around, "Are all these science types alike?"

"Sir," Yugi entreated to grab the man's attention, "We were looking for some spirineticians that had been killing adventurers in the Luminescent Forest. Might you know where they are?"

The man paused for a moment, then turned back to the group. "Might that I do and might that I don't. But that's not how a machine works. You don't get output if you don't give input. Quid pro quo and all that."

"What is it you want from us?" Michael asked impatiently, tapping his foot as he looked down at the short man.

The man looked back at Michael, then threw his hands in the air and grunted in distress. "But that's just the problem isn't it!" he cried as he turned back to his blueprints, "Input for output. Something for something, it makes sense! But those machine monsters, they never take any input! They don't eat, so how do they obtain their energy? More than that, how do they produce so much force at all? No clockwork mechanism produces that much force, or works that quickly, or is that versatile. They're the secret to it all, don't you see?" the man ranted as he tossed about his blueprints.

Serenity, Yugi and Tristan all shared an incredulous look. Still, this man was supposed to have the information they needed. Yugi pressed on, "So what is it that you need from us?"

"You see my men outside? They're training. I need to catch a machine monster, something that I can research to find my answers. Not far from here is the ruin of an old town, and in that ruin is what I seek: a Launcher Spider! We're going to capture it. You're going to help," he declared confidently.

"Then you'll tell us where the spirineticians went?" Tristan asked.

The man cocked his head to the side, "Why on earth would that matter?"

Serenity rolled her eyes, "Because they have to be stopped."

Waving a hand dismissively, the man grabbed a ladder dangling from a rotating gear as it passed and climbed upward to his study. He quickly clambered atop the moving gear and stepped from it onto another. Stepping from that to a ledge that ran around the keep, he made his way to a large chest resting atop it. The latch clicked open as he slid up the lid, grumbling to himself, he searched the contents. Finally, he emerged with a bag in his hands and threw it down into Tristan's arms.

"That's a net. Use it. You help with this, and I'll tell you want you want to know. But for now, focus on this. This is actually _important_."

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The plan was simple. Or more accurately, the plan was stupid. Even Serenity, a novice to duelling at best, knew that Launcher Spider was a powerful monster. With more than two thousand attack points, the monster would be the most powerful enemy they had faced to date. More than that, they were not supposed to kill it but trap it with the flimsy cord nets that they had been provided with. The seventy or so warriors the village had would be participating also, and Cog was to oversee the operation. One runner, the fastest in the village, had been sent to the ruins to harass the spider into pursuit and lure it into their ambush. Brilliant.

Several metres out of the village, the gang stood atop one particularly large crag. To the townsfolk's credit, they had prepared more than just nets for the gargantuan machine. Several trip holes had been dug into the crags and covered, and spears had been placed at the bottom to immobilize the beast. Archers manned the line furthest back, the last line of defence if the beast should prove too strong and too persistent.

A pink flare in the rocky pathways below let them know the creature was drawing close. Not long after, a quick and steady beat of eight mechanical legs let them know the creature was drawing nearer. Then they saw the runner come out of the rocks. Sprinting up the hill, his barely clothed body was covered in red slashes; sweat ran from his body like a wellspring. Then, the massive beast came out behind.

The spider's gigantic green legs each had three massive black spikes mounted atop them. Between the foremost legs, its crimson head and visor gleamed in the midday sun. A bronze bolt shoulder yoke above defended the head itself, and was also mounted with those vicious black spikes. Atop either shoulder sat a featureless bronze block of undisclosed use. Now free of the tight turns of the rock passes, it bore down on the runner with all its fury.

Desperate to save their comrade's life, who could not hope to match the spider for speed, the archers launched a volley of a dozen arrows. The projectiles struck true, but not a single one found a hold. What they did manage to do was infuriated the beast further. The front of the brass blocks swung upward, revealing a cache of missiles as he trampled the helpless runner. A split second later the spider fired a salvo at its now plentiful antagonists. Red and black projectiles streaked through the sky and the hillside shook with the force of their impact. In a single launch all but three of the archers were disintegrated.

The charge, however, did bring the creature within range of the first line of soldiers. Firing their nets, they followed them themselves with rope poles in hand to bind their target. The nets were aimed perfectly, but it was like casting a grocery bag atop a Bengal tiger. Uninhibited by the useless nets, the spider met the charge with equal momentum and a greater ferocity. Of the twenty soldiers that had charged toward, not one made it out of the charge alive, slain by the spikes and sweeping swings of the ferocious spider. By this time, the spider's missiles had regenerated. With the relentless focus only a machine could posses, it turned on the next challenge.

The machine moved forward, but was furious to find that two of its rear legs had fallen into one of the trip holes. Moreover, the spears had found some hold against the metal and the legs wouldn't come free easily. Again, perceiving an opportunity, Cog ordered the next line of his soldiers into a charge. The salvo fired, and the soldiers scattered. Those who managed to dive left or right escaped death, but those in the middle were disintegrated by the attack. As the explosion jarred the hill, so too were the spears jarred, and the spider freed itself from the pit. It now had enemies facing it on three sides, but it had destroyed almost half of the original force. The gang found themselves watching the scene, transfixed. With nothing but a net, or even with their weapons, they knew they'd be hard pressed to scratch the creature.

But a new force had arrived on the battlefield. Charging from the forest, the spider found itself facing a cloaked figure the gang had come up against before. "Who is that? If he dares to interfere…" Cog blustered as he noted the arrival of the newcomer.

The figure, however, was already eye-to-eye with the spider. Lurching forward, the spider drove its legs at the man. Easily dodging the heavy beast, the cloaked man made no aggressive action. He simply leaned and dodged as the beast lurched and attacked, slowly timing out the movements of the foe. Then, in a flash, he dashed beneath the beast. Leaning nearly double, he raced beneath the monster with his wicked blade flashing left and right. As he passed each leg his blade hamstringed the creature, cutting the flow of oil that served as hydraulics for the machine. With its strength fleeting, the creature began to collapse to the ground.

As the cloaked man emerged on the other side of the beast, a cheer emerged from the remaining soldiers. They beast was prone; the day was won! Then, without a second thought, the cloaked form leapt the two and a half metres to the creatures back and turned. The spider, however, was no stable terrain. The cloaked man was forced to drop to a knee and grab hold of one of the monster's metal plates to stable himself. Holding his blade aloft as he used his free hand to balance, he turned his focus to the creature's head.

It was a change in focus that Cog neither missed nor misunderstood. If the cloaked figure killed the spider, its body would disintegrate and he'd lose the precious research subject. Wasting no time, he turned to his three remaining archers. "What are you waiting for?" he shouted, "He's going to kill the beast! We can't let that happen! Kill him!"

The archers let fly, and Serenity again found herself calling out for the man. "Look out!" she shrieked to the cloaked man, and as his eyes rose he found the cause of her yell.

Again, the cloaked figure snapped into action. His blade swung furiously, curving left, then right to intercept the arrows. The third, however, was out of range of his blade. Swirling his cloak into action, he swept it in front of herself. The arrow dug in, but the sideways momentum of the cloaked prevented its wounding him. Eyes now focussed on the archers, he drew a card from his sleeve.

A second later, the archers fell on their heels as the force of the cloaks' Block Attack magic card hit them. The spider's convulsions had weakened, and the cloak let go his grip. Rising to his feet he sprinted over the back of the monster and leapt atop its shoulder yoke, placing one foot atop it and the other lower, on the beast's head. His wicked blade in hand, its grip reversed, he drove it purposefully into the monster's face. It flailed violently as the blade hit home, finally throwing the cloaked man to the ground in front of it. Then, pulling back almost onto its rear legs, it let out a grinding mechanical wail. It fired its last salvo at the city above. Even for this, however, the cloaked man was ready. Quickly drawing a Negate Attack card from his sleeve, he activated it without hesitation. Before it had finished harmlessly consuming the missiles, the spider's body had disintegrated.

The cloak man relaxed visibly, lying back on the crags and gasping for breath. A moment later he rose to his feet and scaled the hillside to the edge of the town. Pulling the arrow from his cloak, he cast it at the archer's feet. "I believe that one is yours," he snapped. As soon as he completed that, he turned to look at Cog himself.

"I'm going to ignore, for now, the fact that you ordered your men to kill me and focus on the monumentally stupid task at hand. _Launcher_ Spider can launch missiles. What, were you going to tie the missiles up? If I ever hear of this town doing something this stupid again, I'm going to come down here and raze the place myself."

He took a few steps back down the hill, the paused and turned back to look at Serenity. "You saved me from the archers, I saved you from the spider. This one's a push, I'm only down one."

Despite herself, Serenity found that she was giggling. "Sure," she declared lightly, and the cloak nodded to her. With that, he descended into the rocky pathways below the hills and disappeared from sight.

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"You told us that if we helped you with your stupid fool's errand, you'd tell us where they went!" Tristan bellowed at the stocky man in his keep.

"Yes, yes, _help_. That stupid girl hindered and the rest of you did nothing!"

"Hindered?" Serenity exclaimed as she too lost her patience with the man, "If I hadn't warned him about the-"

"Save your breath, Serenity," Yugi advised her, "He's too stubborn to admit he was wrong, and until he does he'll be convinced that we were more harm than good."

"You were more harm than good," Cog echoed as he began to revise his blueprints, sitting at his desk, "That's why next time I'll not ask you to help."

"Next time!" Tristan cried, "You lost thirty-six men in that attack!"

"Is that all?" the stocky machinist asked lightly, "Don't you understand? Those men will be replaced in time, but the knowledge we stand to gain here could revolutionize the world! An energy more powerful than steam! A mechanism more efficient, more versatile, than clockwork!"

"It's not worth the lives, you idiot!" Serenity cried. "You can't throw peoples' lives away for the sake of your research!"

"I-just-did," Cog snapped.

Tristan had had enough. Lunging across the room he grabbed Cog from his chair, knocking if over in the process, and lifted him into the air, "Listen, you egocentric bastard!" he hissed, "You can try and do this again all you like; I don't care. That cloaked man will take care of you, from the sound of things. But we made a deal and you _will_ tell us where those men went."

An intense moment passed between the two men, and finally Cog responded. "They headed into the desert, looking for the Shrine of Cur," he answered, and Tristan dropped him to the floor.

"Looks like we're heading into the desert," Yugi declared abashedly.

A/N: I _think_ Seto will be in the next chapter, depending on how much actual action I can fit into the one chapter. If not, the next one. Please, take the time to let me know what you thought. I love every review I get.


	5. Dog Eat Dog

A/N: As promised, Seto makes an appearance in this chapter. In fact, he should be a regular from this point forward, which means I can get working on that romance that I promised. Well, read on good reader, and don't forget to leave a review once you're done.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!

**Chapter Five: Dog Eat Dog**

"At your command, sir, we have initiated all third level programs. Total game output is now at ninety-eight percent," the tech reported as the last of the unused programs was executed in the software. Only one major program remained untouched, and it was only for use in situations where a major outside influence was needed in the program.

"Good," Mokuba stated flatly as he himself browsed output statistics from all over the field. Of the original group, only three had been killed so far, but Mokuba knew that wouldn't hold for long. It was the third day of the program. Deaths would begin soon. "Let's run with only necessary staff for the time being. Everyone else can go home for now," he declared.

Half of the twenty or so techs in the room made a break for the door before Mokuba changed his mind. Three straight days of work meant tons of overtime, but the chairs were getting uncomfortable and they missed their families. Mokuba ran a hand through his hair as he sat at one of the terminals. A sigh escaped his lips as he activated the rendering program and used its search function to find Yugi. As he watched, the group were taking their first steps into the Cur Desert.

"Oh, man…" Mokuba muttered to himself, a habit he was fast picking up. "Are you guys in for a surprise!"

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The Cur Desert was the largest desert in the world Kaiba had made. Surrounded by mountainous terrain, the parched desert almost never received rain, and as such was almost totally uninhabited. Almost, for some duel monsters dwelt in the desert because of its dry terrain, creatures that could not live almost anywhere else. Beyond that, the desert was a den for the unscrupulous in need of a hiding spot. The mountains that bowled in the desert contained many caves, and they had been put to good use over the centuries it had been in existence.

Currently, one other group occupied the desert. Yugi Moto, Serenity Wheeler, Tristan Taylor and Michael Isaiah trudged against the scorching wind in search of two spirintologists they had pursued for miles.

"Hey, guys, guess what that spider dropped!" Tristan called over the howling wind to try to break the monotony of the walk. He was rewarded with a mouthful of blistering sand, but nevertheless he received a reply.

"What is it, Tristan?" Yugi asked, turning his face to protect himself from the wind.

Tristan held three cards in his hand, the remaining plunders after the death of the titanic Launcher Spider in Pinion, not far behind. Kaiba's monsters, like most video game monsters, were programmed to drop even incredibly unlikely treasure on their death for the sake of equipping the heroes.

"For me," Tristan yelled, pausing to spit sand out again, "One hundred and twenty Mokus! For you, Yugi, Rush Recklessly, and for Serenity we have M. Warrior #2. Not a bad haul if I do say so my," he stopped to spit out a sandcastle, "self."

Michael rolled his eyes, "Remind me why you get all the money?"

"Finders keepers."

"But you didn't do anything!" Michael groaned.

"Neither did you!" Tristan shot back.

Michael rolled his eyes again, falling back to stand beside Yugi and Serenity. It turned out to be fortunate for him that he did, because a moment later Tristan convulsed suddenly and fell back.

"Son of a…" Tristan seethed as he grabbed his leg. Quickly, the group surrounded him to look at the wound.

"What happened? I don't see any blood!" Yugi called as his head flashed left and right, trying to locate the source of his friend's pain.

"Not… a cut… a shock!" Tristan hissed as he held his leg tightly to himself.

"A shock?" Michael echoed. "Lightning Congers!"

As if on cue, two of the green worms flashed out of the sand not far ahead. Irritated by the interlopers in their land, and by the noise, they darted to either side of the group. Sharp, lightning-like spurs jutted out of the worms in any number of places, including particularly nasty ones above and beside their red eyes.

"Lightning Congers?" Serenity cried as her hand fell to her deck box. The creatures seemed dangerous and aggressive. She grabbed Kagemusha and prepared herself to summon him.

"Sand eels," Michael explained. "They live in the desert because their electric charge can harm them when it rains."

Serenity nodded, although she barely registered the words. Drawing the card out, she called the name of her monster and brought him to bear. Forming in front of her, Kagemusha turned to accept her command. "Kagemusha, get the congers!"

"Serenity, wait!" Yugi called as he helped Tristan to his feet, but Kagemusha had already commenced his attack.

Bearing down on the eel, Kagemusha spun his staff in an underhand strike to drive the conger up into a vulnerable position for the sword. As soon as his staff struck, the eel discharged a massive amount of electricity into the warrior's body. For a brief instant Kagemusha of the Blue Flame tensed, and then he dissolved into nothingness.

"Metal weapons won't work…" Yugi warned. He himself was scouring his small repertoire of spells to find something to use against the creatures.

"So what do we do?" Tristan asked, now leaning heavily on Michael for support. The eels were sliding slowly around the group, as though plotting their attack. "Those of us who do use weapons are using metal ones."

"Serenity, what else do you h-" Michael was cut short as one of the worms darted into the group. Throwing Tristan aside, Michael barely dodged the charging beast. As soon as it had made its pass, the second darted into the group. Again, each of them narrowly avoided contact. Setting themselves again, the worms rotated around the group once more.

Serenity reached into her deck box and drew out her Skull Servant. It used no metal, that was true, but could it handle the congers? It was quite weak.

"Yugi, will this do?" Serenity asked cautiously, holding up the card.

Yugi looked at the card and sighed. Skull Servant had only 300-attack point, while he remembered that Lightning Conger, still a weak card, had 350. While it had become clear that in Kaiba's game there was more than just scores to combat, the servant would also be outnumbered. But, he had the Rush Recklessly that Tristan had given him.

"Summon it," Yugi ordered, and prepared his spell.

Serenity activated the card, and Skull Servant, short even compared to Serenity, formed in front of her. The creature was a four-foot skeleton wearing a purple robe, but it was as ready to do combat as Kagemusha had been. "Skull Servant," Serenity ordered, "Get those Lightning Congers!"

The Skull Servant began its lopsided charge, and an instant later Yugi's magic card reinforced it. With its attack more than tripled by the card, the zombie accelerated visibly. Charging into the first conger, it lifted it above itself in a death grip as the worm flailed. Then, with seemingly no effort at all, it tore the worm in two. Instantly the form disintegrated, and the servant turned to locate its next foe.

As it turned out, that foe was waiting for it. The moment the zombie turned, it caught a lightning bolt in the chest. Superheated by the bolt, the zombie's robe burst into flames. Yugi's spell took the opportunity to wear off. Returned to its normal weakness and set aflame, the servant was quickly immolated.

"Quick, Serenity, summon it back!" Tristan called as the worm turned back to face its original target.

"I can't! It wasn't a silver card, and it was only one star! The card wore off," she explained.

"Well, any thoughts?" Michael chuckled dejectedly as the worm set itself.

Just then, a rock cruised over from a nearby dune and struck the worm firmly atop the head. The worm turned its head toward the dune, and for an instant Serenity could have sworn something akin to recognition flashed in the dumb beast's mind. Then, the moment passed and the creature dived back into the sand and tunnelled away.

"Well… think that's our stalker again?" Yugi asked as he quickly examined the ground where the worm had been. Like Tristan had told him earlier, the creature had dropped some treasure. Specifically, the card was Red Medicine. That would prove useful.

"Drop ya weapons, or I'll be forced to hurt ya!" A voice declared from a dune up above, and the group forced their heads toward the dune against the sandstorm.

Serenity nearly dropped to the ground laughing. Seto Kaiba never failed to make an impression on people, and he usually came across as a heartless jerk. Despite that, she was beginning to enjoy the man's sense of humour. Atop the sand dune stood a man identical to her brother, carrying a rudimentary spear and wearing the hide of a dog as a suit. His arms and legs were unclothed, and the head of the animal was worn like a helmet. Quickly scanning the area as best she could she realized they were surrounded by similarly garbed warriors. No, bandits, she realized.

The group realized that they were, once again, trapped. Compliantly, they dropped their weapons. The bandits quickly recovered them, and took the cards away from Yugi and Serenity. They rounded them up into one large group, and then set off for some unknown destination.

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The group had been split up in order to be more manageable. Yugi and Serenity had been lumped together in a single cell in the cave that they had been led to. The door was nothing more than a grate of bones from a Mammoth Graveyard (how they had gotten them from the monster without it disintegrating, they never knew) and the room itself was only barely shaped from the living rock of the mountainside.

It was cooler in the cave than outside, but it was still uncomfortably hot. The heat seemed to steal energy from both the captives and they simply lay and the rock and breathed, slowly, rhythmically. They had been there for only about an hour, but it seemed longer. Finally, Serenity couldn't bear the boredom any longer. She decided to strike up a conversation despite the heat.

"Kaiba has more respect for my brother than I thought," she stated simply.

"What makes you say that? He made him a bandit wearing a dog hide."

"True," Serenity admitted, "But he _is_ the bandit leader."

Yugi chuckled softly. "Do you think that all of the AI's are designed to take prisoners as often as possible? It seems to me everyone's either giving you a quest or taking you in."

A soft giggle escaped Serenity's lips as she lay against the red rock. Heck, even this prison was almost as comfortable as the apartment she lived in. Less smelly, too. She shifted position to lean against the wall and exhaled slowly, "Well, maybe we'll get to leave soon. We still have to complete that quest for Plates."

In the next cell over, Tristan and Michael were similarly lazing around. Action seemed impossible in the stifling heat. Finally, a figure showed up at the door, breaking the monotony of waiting.

"Hello, brother," the figure stated cordially as he stood at the cage door.

Michael rose to his feet in an instant and stared incredulously at the figure. He did resemble Michael quite a bit. Pale, his angular features and shoulder-length black hair only slightly differed from that of Tristan's cellmate. His garb, however, was quite different. He wore tan coloured cargo pants, a style popular in the time-ambiguous world Kaiba had created, and a white shirt with at least half a dozen pockets. On his feet he wore high black boots, and a black scabbard held a rapier against his leg.

"Uriel?" Michael gawked, dumbfounded.

"That's not my name!" the man snapped, suddenly loosing the cool composure he'd held a moment ago. "It's Damien."

At that, Michael scoffed and turned away from the entrance to the cell. "So you've even turned your back on the name that mother gave you?"

"I'm not like you," Damien hissed, "I'd never reduce myself to what you do."

"Oh, so becoming a bandit is better?"

"My being a bandit saved your life. Those men would have been just as happy to kill you and your friends, but for my sake they spared you," Damien informed him.

Michael stared resolutely at the wall. Tristan looked to Damien, and then back to Michael. "This guy is your brother?" he asked slowly.

"Yeah, he's a real class act. He ran away when he was a kid and became a criminal. This is the first time I've seen him since we were ten."

Damien rolled his eyes and started to say something when another one of the bandits strode into the room and discretely whispered something into Damien's ears. The black haired bandit smiled and looked back into the cell. "Another person in our desert. We are popular today. A friend of yours, perhaps? We'll bring him in and see. In the meantime, Chief Joseph will want to speak with your group." He turned back to the other bandit then, "Give them some water, and have them wash up. Then, escort them to see the chief."

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Chief Joseph's audience chamber served as a stark contrast to the Countess of Landstar's. The chief sat atop a pile of furs stacked on a natural rock ledge. The room was the brightest in the cave as it was also the entry chamber of the cavernous hideout. The group found themselves surrounded by bandits as they stood before their leader.

The leader looked them up and down. He rose, and walked around them, his eyes darting about and observing everything there was to see about the group. Sniffing a few times, he drew in closer especially to Yugi and Serenity, giving each of them a firm scenting before returning to his seat.

"Who, what, why?" he asked.

The group looked amongst themselves, none of them fully understanding what the bandit chief wanted. Finally, the chief sighed. "Who are ya, what are ya doing in my desert and why?" he clarified.

"We're adventurers," Yugi explained, "We're in this desert seeking some murders who had been killing people to harvest silver cards and we're doing it both because its wrong and because we were ordered to by a sorcerer we met."

The chief digested the idea for a short while, and then hmm'ed loudly. "What do ya think of dat?" he asked to one of the two stocky men standing to either side of him wearing camel skins instead of dog skins.

"I… do not think they are lying. Their story coincides with what we know to be true from our recent visitors. Judging from their demeanour and attire, they are not in league with them. Logically, their story makes sense," one of them responded in a deep, raspy voice.

"Hmm… so, ya think you wanna take on those guys, eh? I gotta tell ya, from what I heard you guys couldn't handle a pair a Lightning Congers. Maybe you guys bit off more dan you can chew?" he offered, a slight smirk on his face.

"Why you…" Tristan grunted, "We can take care of ourselves, they just caught us off guard is all! We can certainly handle a pair of no good crimi…nals…" he realized how stupid the statement had been as soon as it left his lips. All around him, scowls adorned the faces of a tribe of criminals.

"No good criminals, eh? Maybe you wanna say dat to my face…" the chief began, but suddenly the argument was interrupted by a sound at the door of the cavern. As one, the criminals turned to regard the commotion.

The guards at the door were surrounding something, and for a moment there was a scuffle. A second later the two guards flew in either direction, striking the walls and collapsing to the ground. In stormed the cloaked figure, one hand holding his weapon of choice and the other dragging one of the bandits by the scruff of his neck. He cast the bandit aside as he entered the cave and looked straight ahead.

Drawing swords, spears and axes, half a dozen of the bandits closed on the man. Striking in fast, the cloaked figures arced his blade high and spun it around the blade of a bandit. Quickly exerting a driving force on the blade, he ran it down and drove it six inches into the ground, locking it firm in the stone. He paused for a moment, grinning although his face was obscured, and drove his fist into the unarmed bandit's jaw, sending him sprawling back.

By this time, two others were on either side of him. Blocking high the axe from his right, he kicked the unprotected legs out from under the bandit. Then, fluidly, he spun on the other and parried his spear upward and harmless. Pulling his blade free he struck in from above, lopping the spearhead off of the weapon and rendering it almost useless. Instinctively, he leapt into the air narrowly clearing the horizontal axe chop from the prone opponent. His fourth aggressor was not so lucky, finding himself quickly floored by the blow to the shin. Hoping to eliminate another enemy, the cloaked figure stepped right quickly, onto the back of the fallen bandit. He made certain to place his leading foot on the brigand's head, keeping him down.

The spear wielder came at him again, swinging it like a staff at the cloaked man. He blocked with the strong of the blade and then grabbed the damaged weapon with his free hand. The bandit tried to tear it free, but realized that he couldn't matched the figure for strength. Realizing that he was within range of the wicked curving blade, he forfeited the weapon and retreated. And not a moment too soon, as the cloaked figure turned to face the remaining two combatants.

A speedy appraisal of his foes provided the cloaked man with a working strategy, so he charged on them with his eyes glinting with anticipation. The first struck in a lunge with his sword, but it was old and worn and easily deflected by the staff that the cloak had gained. The second stabbed in with a spear, but the cloaked figure easily deflected it with his blade. With both of them off balance, the cloak spun and drove an elbow into both of their faces. They fell back stunned, and the cloak spun again to face the bandit chief.

"Call them off or I start killing them," he threatened.

"Back off, guys, this one's too much," the bandit chief ordered in reply.

The figures back off. At Chief Joseph's side, Damien raised an eyebrow out of curiosity. It was then that Michael's fear of the cloaked man chose to resurface. He grabbed a sword from one of the stunned guards. "You're just going to let him go?" he cried, and charged at the cloaked figure.

His first lunge was easily deflected to the side. The cloak used the opportunity to step away from the prone bandits and find easier ground. Again Michael charged, this time choosing a horizontal slash that the cloaked figure blocked. The figure lunged, and Michael dived back to escape the slash. Then, setting himself, he charged again. Apparently, the cloaked figure tired of the game and met the charge with vicious enthusiasm. Michael was quickly back on his heels as the figure began to rain his vicious arcs in from above.

"That style…" Damien muttered as he watched the battle unfold, "I recognize it."

Michael found himself off balance with the weapon he was less familiar with. It was all he could do to hold the forceful attacks off as he railed against his foe. Then, suddenly, the attack came sweeping from below. Michael's blade was knocked high and away. The cloaked figure, fully in control, brought the blade back in and slashed at Michael's unprotected belly. Damien, however, was not prepared to simply watch his brother die. With a desperate dive he knocked the blow low, although it almost resulted in Michael's castration. Sensing that he was facing two foes, the cloaked figure kicked back and gained an even footing.

Damien turned to regard the cloaked man and held his brother back with his free arm. A smile crossed his face slowly. "Well done," he muttered, "You're as good a swordsman as they say, Dragon Prince."

The cloaked figure took a step back in surprise, and then bowed stiffly. With a single motion he removed the sand encrusted cloak and stood again in his armour and white sash. His blue eyes flitted about carefully, and he turned to regard the man in front of him. "You must be the living brother. Uriel?"

Damien growled, "It's Damien. I discarded that other name a long time ago."

Prince Seto nodded as though he had expected as much. Behind Damien, the bandit chief bristled with rage. "Seto! You said you'd never come back here, royal bastard!"

"Aww, is the little mutt angry?" Seto asked slowly. "Hmm. I had no intention of ever coming back to this godforsaken cave. First, your puppies attacked me, and second I find myself indebted to the girl you have in your custody, and it is a debt I intend to repay."

"What, did dat girl save you from a scary Milus Radiant?" the chief sneered.

Seto rolled his eyes and turned back to Damien. "It seems that of all the people here to speak to, you'd be the most reasonable. What position do you hold within this pack of bandits?"

"Hey! Seto! I'm talking to ya!"

"I'm actually only staying here for a short time. I was tracking some of Azrael's men who were harvesting silver cards in the forest near here. They came through, and I paid these bandits for passage. Conveniently, they spared the group from death because my brother is among them," Damien replied.

Tired of being left out of the conversation, Tristan cut in. "If you're Prince Seto, why'd you keep attacking us? You weren't an ass when we met you in Cobalt!"

Seto rolled his eyes. "Why don't you listen to me? I never attacked you; I defended myself. First, I wanted to talk to that girl. As you've no doubt noticed, she bears a striking resemblance to my dear friend the Countess of Landstar. When I realized that you were travelling with that one," he explained, gesturing to Michael, "I decided that he needed to be removed from the group. He's dangerous, if you didn't know."

"Prince, Michael is our friend no matter what you think. You should have trusted our judgment and tried to talk to us instead of attacking…" Yugi replied coolly.

"Indeed?" Seto asked. "And would you have abandoned your _friend_ so easily? I think not. You still won't, I predict, but I'll try to explain it to you anyway…"

"Shut up, royal!" Michael spat, lunging at Seto but once again being held back by his brother.

"Michael was looking to find the men looking for silver cards, but he was doing it for a man named Azrael, a member of the Council of Prelates. Look at the sash he's wearing. Yellow. Nobody wears yellow except for members of the church; it's their colour. He's not in full robes, so he's neither a priest nor a prelate. I can only be certain on one count of this, but he certainly doesn't seem to be one of the mute eunuchs that compose the church guard. The church employs only one other group, and that's prelate Azrael's blackguard, the secret police and dark hand of the church. He's been using you to help him find those men, Azrael's men, so that he can help them toward their ultimate goal. This is the man I tried to save you from, who you defended from me for so long," Seto explained, staring at Michael as he said every word.

The group turned to look at Michael, who staggered back from his brother. Damien turned and watched his brother, his finger running up and down the handle of his rapier. "You can trust him, it's true," Damien added, "My mother sold her sons to Azrael as a penance for her own crimes. Both Michael and Sariel were more then happy to do whatever Azrael told them, but I hated every minute of it. I ran away. I certainly didn't expect to see Michael again."

The group stared at their friend, who shifted uncomfortably under the looks he was receiving. Still clutching the long sword in his hands, he twitched nervously and his eyes darted around.

"Is that true, Michael?" Serenity asked guardedly.

Michael's head darted over to look at Serenity and he was clearly trembling. "No! They're lying! It's not… Uriel, you bastard!"

Michael charged at Damien, lunging in a stab, but Damien quickly knocked the blade aside. He simply looked sadly at his brother, his blade hesitating. Michael seized the opportunity and pushed past the bandits and charged out of the cave into the scorching wind of the Cur Desert.

"Michael…" Damien muttered.

Seto watched too, as the youth charged off. It was true, he could have stopped him, but he needed his Skull Red Bird to pursue the youngster and find the shrine he expected Azrael's men to be entering almost that very moment. If he was right about the shrine… it was vitally important to stop them.

So too did everyone within the cavern watch the youth run. Everyone except Serenity, who found herself watching the now uncloaked man. How could he be Prince Seto? Seto had left them in Cobalt, on important business. Moreover, what did that mean? She assumed Seto would be a good guy in Kaiba's own game, but… Maybe he was. After all, she wasn't sure what to believe anymore if Michael had been a villain from the start.

"Looks like we're heading into the desert," Seto declared finally.

A/N: I was seriously tempted to make Bakura the bandit leader because… well, y'know. But show me an author that could resist putting Joey in a dog hide and I'll show you an author who… missed an opportunity, I guess. Also, I feel it important to say that nothing in this chapter or this fic is a commentary on the church, so nobody get offended at me. Again, let me know what you think, leave a review. If you think it sucked, tell me why! If you think it was good, still tell me why!


	6. Sum of its Parts

A/N: I really like this chapter. The big action scene is a new one on me, trying to integrate that many things into one battle. You'll see. I think it turned out pretty well. It's also a long chapter, but there was a lot to cram into it. I've yet to catch flak for making a chapter too long, so I'm sure you won't mind. Also, I've received a couple reviews saying how this fic is like hack/SIGN. I've never seen an episode, but that's kinda cool.

**Disclaimer**: If I owned Yu-Gi-Oh! I wouldn't write fanfiction about it. I think that's a fairly logical assumption.

**Chapter Six: Sum of its Parts**

"You got a lot of nerve, slimy jerk," Chief Joseph spat at Prince Seto, whose eyes were shut tight as he leaned against the wall of the cave. Everyone in the cave seemed to batter him with incessant questions; he merely wished to wait for the return of his ally. Tristan's line of questioning centred around a 'how dare…', while Yugi's was more of a 'why would…'. Joseph, of course, railed about how he shouldn't have come. It didn't matter. It was only a matter of time.

Still, the questions flowed. His eyebrow twitched in irritation as each of the group's members, except the girl, pounded him with a gauntlet of inquiries. He was beginning to believe he didn't much care for this group. The bandits looked to Joseph for guidance, but the bandit chief was too split between rage and fear toward the prince that he was a useless figurehead. In a few moments, the den of thieves had been reduced to true chaos.

Faintly, the Dragon Prince heard a familiar call from outside. "Shut up," he snapped, opening his eyes. He turned quickly and strode out of the cave. Silenced, the collected group watched him leave. He reached the entrance before he turned. "Those of you who wish to pursue Michael, follow me."

Hurriedly, the group scampered out to follow the Dragon Prince. The sandstorm seemed to have subsided, instead replaced by the searing sun that _had_ to be larger in the desert. The clear skies provided Seto with a good view of his Skull Red Bird that he had sent in pursuit of Michael. They followed it in silence for some time.

"Little mirror girl," Seto called finally. Serenity ran forward a few steps to match stride with the prince. "What's your name?"

"Serenity, sir," she replied meekly.

"Don't be afraid. It should be obvious by now that I never meant any harm to _you_."

"Well… but, sir, I'm not truly sure what's going on here," Serenity replied.

The prince nodded a bit at that, "I suppose you all share in that sentiment?"

The group nodded, although the prince couldn't see it from ahead of them, his eyes solidly forward. "Even I'm not sure of all of it," Damien explained, "I only recognized your style because I saw you in the tournament at Lortosia not long ago. I left before… apparently before my brother had anything to do with you."

Nodding again, the prince walked in silence for some time after that, and Serenity wondered if she was to go back to walking with the rest of the group. Finally, Seto spoke up, "I wasn't always the only prince of Kaiba. Six years ago, when I was fourteen, I was training with General Shale and a Darkfire Dragon was sent to kill me. I killed it somehow, I'm still not entirely sure how, and thus avoided my assassination attempt. Two men who I later learned were members of Azrael's blackguard assaulted my brother, Prince Mokuba. They killed him unarmed and fled, but Warlord Fallacian chanced to be in the area and caught one. The one we caught was named Sariel. He told us that the other was his brother, a man named Michael," he paused to let his words sink in; walking in silence while the group digested the story.

"We made a deal, and announced it publicly," he continued after a few minutes of walking in silence, "If Michael came forward and surrendered to the authorities, both he and his brother would receive banishment to the Terminus Mountains as their punishment. If not, Sariel would be executed. Vengeance is a thoroughly empty thing, or so I learned that day, which is why I chose not to pursue your brother," he stated, specifically to Damien this time.

"I have quite a few eyes and ears, and when I understood that Michael was in Cobalt I ensured that my men kept tabs on him at all times. When I understood he had joined the group I had recently taken an interest in, I had Steward Roland take my duties for the time and pursued you. Killing Michael, though I would enjoy it, will not bring my brother back. Nonetheless, it is my duty to ensure he doesn't commit a similar treachery against others.

"So before you even ask, that's why I'm here helping you. That's why I know and care about who Michael is, that's why I pursued you, etcetera. So stop asking questions, all of you. Now, back to my original question. Serenity, I understand that you're a summoner. Have you levelled up since we last met?"

Serenity found herself a bit surprised by the question. She knew that the AI's neither knew they were AI's nor knew that this was a game, she had just assumed game aspects like levelling up were equally unknown to them. Now that she thought about it, that didn't really make sense. "No, I'm still level one," she replied.

"Damn," Seto swore quietly. "I was hoping you would know how to Gate, or Unsummon or something… It certainly would have helped for getting past it."

"Getting past what?" Serenity asked.

At the moment she asked the question they reached the zenith of the dune they'd been scaling. Looking ahead, it cut below to an open valley with a massive cave at the bottom. In the entrance to the cave was a massive Red-Eyes Black Dragon. "That," Prince Seto answered.

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Michael was seething. He had known that the assassination of Prince Mokuba would come back to haunt him at some point, but to think that the cloaked figure had been the Dragon Prince himself! Ah, what would Azrael think of him if he finally finished off Seto? He'd been promoted to the head of the blackguard. And Seto would come, of course. He knew what was in the cave as well as he did. For some time Azrael had men harvesting silver cards in the Luminescent Forest. They needed twenty star levels of silver monsters to open the doorway, and when they did…

Seto would come, and then Michael would have revenge for this insult. He had even taken a liking to the group he'd been travelling with, but of course there would be none of that now. In all probability, he would have had to kill them anyway.

"Hurry up and dig, idiots!" Michael snapped at the two men trying to liberate the stone tablet not far below them. He wanted Seto to come, but not before he managed to free the stone tablet that the shrine centred on.

"Why don't you help, then, blackguard!" called the sorcerer, "You're the one just standing around!"

"And you're the one that's supposed to be so very strong!" added the summoner. The two men had spent long enough in the wild together that they were almost symbiotic. Michael's unexpected arrival had been to rebuke them for not completing their task yet. As such, they felt some ire toward the man. More, because he had brought a gang of adventurers down against them.

"I'm keeping watch," Michael shot back, "What if Prince Seto shows up while we're digging?"

"What do you think that Red-Eyes is for? The only reason we got in is because we gated it away long enough to get through," the sorcerer replied.

"They won't get past it," the summoner agreed.

"You forget, this is the _Dragon_ Prince we're talking about!" Michael reminded them.

"So what?" the summoner called, "He can handle a Darkfire Dragon. Red-Eyes is not so easily swayed. They won't make it past, I assure you. Hah! We've hit stone!"

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The group waited halfway down the sand dune. Seto walked ahead, hand outstretched, his eyes focussed on the ebony serpent in front of him. His steps were slow, purposeful, and confident. With a stare to match Seto's own, the dragon eyes him cautiously. Its body was still curled up on the ground, only its back legs planted in a usable position, but its long neck craned out to regard the object of its focus.

Each confident stride forward seemed like an hour to the group watching him. Serenity chewed her bottom lip out of nervousness each time the dragon tensed, but it seemed as though it would not, or could not, make a move. Closer, closer he drew to the beautiful, terrible beast. Finally, he touched its nose with his outstretched hand. The dragon's eyes stayed locked with its own, and it seemed like an understanding passed between the two.

"Move!" Tristan breathed and darted down the dune.

The others followed, but Seto's head darted toward them. "No!" he cried as he saw them moving, but it was too late already. The dragon darted toward them, and the others desperately tried to reverse their movement. Tristan had already strayed too far and the sand beneath his feet moved even if he didn't. Red eyes streaked in ahead of a black body, and its head snapped forward.

It appeared that he had missed. Tristan's body remained upright, almost unharmed. Serenity's eyes moved from his legs upward and it was all she could do not to vomit at the sight. Where Tristan's head once stood, instead was the motionless head of the dragon, its jaws closed on Tristan's neck. His body fell forward and dissolved before it hit the ground. Twisting, the dragon's head turned to regard the others, now paralysed on the dune.

"Red-Eyes!" Prince Seto called authoritatively. The dragon's head lashed back toward Seto, but its eyes no longer held caution or awe: they held anger. Muscles rippling, the dragon charged toward the prince, who defiantly held his arm out toward the massive beast. It lunged furiously, and its head snapped down. Serenity shut her eyes and screamed.

Suddenly, she was aware of warm arms around her and comforting words. Her eyes slid open, and she looked back toward Seto. The dragon's maw was open, saliva dripping from the roof of the cavernous opening to the bottom. In between, fully inside of the dragon's mouth, but no worse for wear, were the Dragon Prince's arm, shoulder and head. Neither moved, and they stood interlocked for some time.

It was Damien who had grabbed Serenity, whispering that it was alright, that Tristan was in a better place, that Seto was unharmed. The rogue held her close, and Serenity found herself holding back. Yugi, too, was beside her; entranced by the trance both the dragon and Seto seemed to share. Held in that position for some time, moments passed slowly.

Finally, though still locked in the same position, eyes straight ahead even if that was into the Red-Eyes' throat, Seto spoke. His voice was quiet, and he spoke through clenched teeth, but so silent was the moment that they heard every word clearly. "If you are going to go inside, do so now. Grieve for your friend if you must, but move, or there will be more casualties soon."

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Tristan found himself floating in the same thick liquid that he had during character generation several days ago. He couldn't recall what had happened, but judging from his current situation, he would guess that he had died. Red-Eyes had probably killed him, or that Damien from behind. In any case, his game was over.

"Your character has died. The game is over, Tristan. Thank you for playing," the female voice from character generation informed him.

"How did I die?" Tristan asked.

"You were killed by: Red-Eyes Black Dragon, 2400 attack, 2000 defence. Your ending level was: 1. Your final experience was: 220. Total playtime: 49:12. Once again, thank you for you participation."

Floating in the liquid, Tristan could only shrug at the information. "I guess that clears that up. Can I go now?"

"One moment longer, please. We are clearing the buffer."

Tristan shrugged again, and floated some more. He enjoyed it, actually, but he would rather be back in the game. He'd never live down that he'd been the first to die. Still, if Red-Eyes had gone berserk he supposed the others would be joining him shortly. Then, finally, he found himself floating upward in the fluid. A moment later, he was back in the cell.

"Tristan, you're back," Mokuba commented as he personally disengaged his virtual cell. Tristan sweatdropped a bit at the statement, and smiled nervously.

"Guess I didn't do so well, eh?"

"Not bad at all, actually. You're the twelfth or so person to go, and dying to a Red-Eyes Black Dragon is nothing to sneeze at," Mokuba replied.

"That reminds me!" Tristan chimed in, "How are the others doing?"

"They got in, except for Prince Seto," Mokuba explained, having been watching the entire proceedings himself using the rendering program.

"Seto died?" Tristan asked incredulously as he hopped out of the cell and onto the floor, following Mokuba to the control room.

"No, he's holding off the dragon. If you hadn't been so quick on the draw, you probably would've survived the encounter too."

They entered the now spacious control room and made their way to the monitor Mokuba had been using. The young Kaiba sat, Tristan taking a position to watch over his shoulder. The gang had just entered the main room of the small shrine, coming in just as Michael and his two companions were withdrawing a stone pedestal from the sandy floor.

"Come on, guys…" Tristan muttered to himself.

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"I'm afraid you're too late if you intended to stop us, my friends," Michael called to Yugi, Damien and Serenity as they shuffled into the large red rock chamber. "But if you want to join me, there's still time for that."

"All of this time…" Serenity muttered as she looked at the group. True, it had only been a few days, why should she have trusted him? But until she had seen him working with the men that were obviously those they had been pursuing she hadn't believed that he had betrayed them.

"You were working with the enemy," Yugi finished coldly, staring at the man that had travelled with them for some time.

"It's for the best, what I'm doing. Sure, it cost some lives, but the gain will be more than you can possibly imagine. I'm doing this for the good of the world!" Michael declared.

Damien scoffed at the statement. "Absurd. Azrael doesn't care about the good of the world, all he cares about is jockeying for position for when Remiel finally kicks the bucket. Besides, you murdered the very people you claim you're trying to help!"

"I didn't!" Michael shot back, and then jerked a thumb toward the two shoddily dressed, dark eyed men behind him, "They did."

"Michael," Yugi called softly, "You haven't done anything, as far as I can say for sure, that's wrong yet. Give this up and come back and we'll forgive you. Help us to bring those two to justice!"

Michael tilted his head and almost seemed to be considering the proposition for a moment. "And Prince Seto, whose brother I killed, will just forgive and forget too? I think not." With that, he strode to the stone tablet now resting just outside the hole they had dug it out of. "Kill them," he commanded the two men beside it.

Both drew cards immediately, the first calling a Darkfire Soldier #2 into being and the second activating a Pot of Greed. As the green jug appeared in front of him, he reached his hand within and withdrew another two cards, readying another.

The charging Darkfire Soldier met with a readied spell from Yugi. Focussing his energy, he conjured Makiu the Magic Mist into being, instantly filling the chamber with an impenetrable fog. Visibility became almost nil, but it didn't stop the charging monster. Extinguished, the soldier's power was diminished and when he hit the group he did so blade to blade with Damien. Meanwhile, Serenity had conjured her M. Warrior into being, and it readied itself for instruction.

"Find the sorcerer and eliminate him," Serenity ordered, calculating the caster as the most dangerous opponent at the moment. The warrior disappeared into the fog, slinking quietly through the middle of the dark chamber. Every so often, a flash of light would illuminate the fog, but what meaning it held she didn't know. Ringing blades echoed through the chamber, and Serenity took the moment to summon Kagemusha as well. It took a moment (cool down was required between summonings) but the creature came into being. "You, help Damien fight off the Darkfire Soldier!" Serenity ordered.

Yugi found himself crouching to avoid detection. His remaining spells were useless, but he had a sense he had at least bought them some time. Suddenly, he heard the opposing sorcerer's voice echo from the other side of the room. "Fusion Sword Murasame Blade!"

In two swift motions the Darkfire Soldier, now enhanced by the magic card, sliced through Kagemusha's staff and then decapitated the monster. Turning toward Damien, the creature charged furiously. The black haired youth barely managed to avoid the attacks, dodging instead of parrying because of the force of the renewed onslaught. Whatever advantage the mist Yugi had provided had given him was now cancelled out by the equip card the enemy sorcerer had prepared. Without aid, it was only a matter of time until the monster defeated him.

Even as the thought crossed his mind, however, aid came in the form of a fireball. From behind, the breath of a Red-Eyes Black Dragon surged through the air and obliterated the Darkfire Soldier in front of him. Damien turned to regard his saviour, but he couldn't make out more than the front of the dragon's chest. That was a situation that did not go unheeded for long.

From the other side of the chamber came the eruption of a Mystical Space Typhoon, consuming the mist in a second, bringing instant clarity to the room. Several things happened in that first instant of clarity. Seeing the dragon clearly, the sorcerer cast his Dragon Capture Jar, binding the Red-Eyes into the container. Serenity's M. Warrior, now within range of his intended target, cleaved the unsuspecting sorcerer in two. The summoner brought forth a Hitotsu-Me Giant, seeing the proximity of an enemy duel monster. Yugi cast the Ground Collapse he'd been readying, causing a fissure to form beneath the summoner and an unaware Michael. The sum of all these movements within a split second was an eruption of chaos.

The summoner was slain and disintegrated, the other two humans temporarily disabled by the spell from their foe. Only the giant remained erect, engaged in a furious battle with the M. Warrior. With the grace of a prince, Seto dropped from where his dragon had stood a moment before as though the move had been the most obvious thing in the world. He hit the ground running; charging toward the foes he knew would not remain down for long. Damien joined him only a split second later, charging toward his brother and closure on a long since sundered relationship.

Serenity found she could only watch helplessly as her M. Warrior was torn apart, but nevertheless found herself charging toward the fray. Perhaps she was getting into the spirit of the game, but she earnestly hoped that the fallen sorcerer had dropped something useful. Her enthusiasm was somewhat diminished as the giant turned toward her. Damien, however, was one step ahead of her. Diving, he fell into a slide between the giant's broad oak-like legs. His rapier was firm in hand, and it darted left to right and back, double hamstringing the massive giant. As his momentum ended, Damien's eyes widened as the titanic monster began to fall back on him.

The prince, who had seen the obvious result of the move before its execution, saved him. Looking to gain an advantage while eliminating a disadvantage, Seto drove his shoulder forcefully into the beast. The beast was already off balance and no match for the high-level prince's raw strength in any situation. It flew from the strike into the chasm created by Yugi's magic card, the summoner dismissing it before it landed. Instead, he replaced it with his ready summon of Tyhone.

"He's good," Seto muttered as he sensed the flying monster form in the air behind him. Ranged summons were only capable by higher-level summoners, and this one seemed to know how to exploit his. The prince opted to spin and slash, and even halfway through the move he realized it had been a mistake. Tyhone attacked by firing cannonballs from its mouth. It had gotten the jump on him, and it was an impossible block. The projectile glanced his shoulder and lifted him into the air from the strike. Reeling in the air, he found he was going to land on the summoner in the chasm. He ensured that his sword broke his fall.

Fraternal concern won out over the heat of battle for Damien, and despite his distaste for his sibling he helped him out of the chasm. The feeling was not, however, reciprocal and a moment later they had crossed blades. "Why, brother? Why do you persist in your loyalty to Azrael?" Damien demanded.

"This has nothing to do with loyalty to Azrael. This is about two things. One is my desire to see the new age that Azrael hopes for," Michael sneered as his brother's rapier skilfully deflected the painfully slow slashing strikes of the long sword.

"And the other?" Damien bit as he easily deflected the slow slashes of his sibling's blade. He didn't want to hurt Michael, but he had a sinking feeling that he could not allow his goals to succeed.

"My intense distaste for you, traitor!" Michael spat. With those words he spun, the blade moving with too much momentum to be blocked by the flimsy rapier. Damien ducked, exactly the move Michael had hoped for, and Michael drove his foot into his brother's skull, knocking him back and prone. He thought to finish him off, but a better thought crossed his mind: that of Seto's exposed back.

While all this had passed, Seto had found his way to his feet and engaged his winged tormentor. Blade firm in hand, its enchanted blade easily swatted aside the projectiles. Even so, the monster was sickeningly fast and he couldn't draw close enough to strike the beast. It seemed to lead him left and right, always almost within reach but never quite near enough. Just as it seemed as though he'd never catch the fiend, the blue bird-humanoid form of a Kurama clutched the beast from behind. Now immobilized, Seto sliced the beast in twain.

"When did you get that one?" Seto asked, taking the moment to catch his breath.

"Off that one," Serenity replied, motioning to the body of the fallen summoner.

"All that he has and you pick Kurama?" came the incredulous reply.

"Actually, that was all I could find. He must have used up everything el-Prince!" Serenity shrieked suddenly. Implicitly, the Dragon Prince understood. He spun quickly, and his sword met Michael's. Hooking one side with the spur, he kept the strong on the blade's opposite side. With one forceful yank he disarmed Michael. With a second fluid motion, the end of his blade was against the blackguard's throat.

"Go ahead, royal. Kill me, you've earned as much."

With his right hand keeping his blade against Michael's throat, Seto's left hand slid behind his back and grabbed something from beneath the folds of his navy cape. He drew it out, a weapons belt with Michael's short swords, and pressed it into the black haired warriors hands. "Trial by combat. We let God decide. It's what Azrael would want, don't you think?" he spat.

"Prince, no!" Damien cried. "Spare my brother, please!"

"Relax, Uriel," Michael warned, "I can fend for myself." It wasn't true, of course. He'd fought the Dragon Prince several times before, and each time he'd been overmatched. Now, he would likely die. So be it.

Michael drew his blades and set himself. If he was to beat the prince, he knew, he would have to use terrain to his advantage. The ground was sandy; with proper manoeuvring he could get Seto to slide into the pit. With that kind of higher ground, he would be able to dispatch of the prince.

Seto planted his back foot and ran the toe of his forward foot in a slow arc across the sand. His fingers clenched and relaxed on the handle of his sword, and he tilted his neck slightly. Slowly, the prince allowed his hand to drop, raising his blade tip in order to hold it in place. Blue eyes burned with the fire of vengeance, despite his earlier tirades against the concept. The prince waited.

But not for long. Michael came at him with passion, striking blades in from either side, altering height and pitch. The Dragon Prince was as good as ever, though, and his blade darted left and right, up and down, deflecting every blow. Even with a furious two-blade assault, Michael gained no ground. Slowly, methodically, deflecting and defeating every attack, Seto stepped forward. Michael hit harder, faster, but still Seto was ahead of him. His blade would snap left to block a blade and then arc upward and come down in time to defeat the other. And he pressed forward.

As it became more and more apparent that he would lose the battle, something welled up within the warrior. Unbeknownst to him, it was the activation of a secondary principle that only awakened under the direst of straits: don't die. Michael hit harder still, trying to drive that wicked blade away far enough that he could strike. But Seto proved stronger. Brutally outclassed, Michael's fury almost compensated for what he lacked in skill. Harder, faster he struck but still no avail. Inwardly, Seto smiled. He was walking right into the trap.

A wellspring of energy surged from somewhere within Michael he didn't know existed. Even at full exertion, hitting as hard and as fast as he possibly could, he didn't tire. He hit with all his force, and still he felt like he had more. Driving all his strength into one blow, he drew his right arm back for a furious strike. Instinctively sensing the opening, Seto's hand flashed forward and grabbed Michael's wrist. This time, when his blade came across for the block there was no sword to block. Instead, he removed Michael's right arm at the elbow.

He came back across again, both to block and to finish Michael off with a blow to the chest, but the battered warrior wanted no more of the battle. He fended off the strike with his remaining sword, but he retreated instead to the pedestal still standing near the collapsed ground. His face was contorted in agony, but he didn't bleed. Kaiba had deemed blood unnecessarily gruesome for the game's target audience. Michael fell back and leaned on the pedestal for support.

The pedestal was square, with a curving stone base. Atop it, in the centre, was a rectangle the size of a Duel Monsters card. Around it in a square were twenty identical stars, eighteen of which shone silver. "You beat me, Dragon Prince," Michael panted, "but you missed the objective. Azrael's goal is complete!" Pronouncing those words, Michael drew out a silver card and thrust it atop the card shaped rectangle.

Instantly, silver light blasted forth from the pedestal. It shone brilliantly, and the last two stars glowed to match the others. Atop the pedestal a black card formed where the silver card had been. Even as Michael snatched it, Seto was striding towards him. But Michael already had the card in hand. He held it out at arms length toward Seto.

"Die, royal!" he cried.

"How tragic!" Seto shot back, "You thought it was the whole thing?" He snatched the card from a stunned Michael's hand and, with one swift motion of his blade, took the blackguard's head from his shoulders.

Michael's body fell to the ground lifelessly. With a look of grief on his face, Seto watched him fall. He turned around and regarded the others, staring at him with a look of awe and disgust on their faces. He half looked like a murder, half like a saviour. "There," he spat, "Revenge is a thoroughly empty thing."

"What was that card?" Damien rasped, his eyes already tearing and his throat choking.

Seto held up the card to the others. Neither yellow, orange nor silver, the card was instead a pitch black. To everyone there, even the uninitiated Serenity, the card was unmistakeable: the Left Leg of the Forbidden One.

A/N: There are some details I intend to explain next chapter that were left unexplained in this one, like why some bodies dissolve and others don't, or why Seto can fight, cast and summon etc. Bear with me. Trial by combat was a real thing, but the way. You can't make stuff that stupid up.


	7. Of Seto and Kaiba

A/N: No action, but I finally got started on that romance I promised. Well, nothing _happens_ but the foundation is being laid. More plot, more character interaction and development, more OC's. If you haven't noticed yet, I have no reservations about pumping my fics full of OC's. Thanks very much to everyone who took the time to review, I loved them! You guys are awesome, for serious.

**Disclaimer**: Don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, so stop pestering me for the rights.

**Chapter Seven: Of Seto and Kaiba**

"Where exactly are we headed?" Yugi asked again, repeating the question that it seemed Seto had no intention of answering.

The group were practically jogging to keep up with the long, purposeful strides that Seto took eastward. Wordlessly, he'd shown them the card they'd recovered from Michael and left the cave. Since then, his steps had followed the same, direct path east, following some invisible objective that was as clear as day to the young prince. It had been an hour already and he hadn't spoken since.

Finally, Serenity was tiring of the ambiguity. "Prince Seto…" she called, whineier than she had intended to sound.

Seto turned around and rolled his eyes at the group. "Lortosia, alright? I have to verify that this card is genuine. I never asked you to come along. Feel free to go home. Quietly."

"I'm coming," Damien assured him. "Anything to spite Azrael."

Serenity nodded too, "Whatever the guys we were chasing were about, I'm sure this is the way to follow it." Yugi nodded his agreement.

For a moment, Seto regarded each of them with an odd look. Finally, he groaned slightly, "Fine. Then follow. Quietly." With that, he was off again.

The trek took them to the mountainous edge of the desert within an hour of the discussion. The journey passed largely in silence, as Seto wished, with little but hushed conversation between Yugi and Serenity. The AI's seemed capable of not talking for days at a time if they didn't see the purpose. Inane chatter was one thing Kaiba hadn't integrated into his creations.

Conversation, however, seemed necessary at the moment. The section of mountain they had reached was nearly sheer and totally unassailable. It was similarly impossible to climb stretching as far as sight was possible in either direction along the mountain bowl.

"What's the plan, prince?" Damien asked, a tinge of sarcasm in his voice.

Seto looked toward the group with a slight bit of disappointment on his face. "Why does nobody wear capes these days?" he muttered to himself. He removed his navy blue cape with one motion and passed it to Damien. "Put it on, hold out the flaps so that it serves as an air pocket. Rainbow hair?"

"Yugi, sir," Yugi corrected him.

"Yugi?" Seto blinked, "Named after the first Deiprelate? Never mind. Hold onto Damien's torso for all you're worth. Don't let go."

Yugi and Damien both gave Seto a look that told him they though him insane, but nevertheless they complied. Seto repositioned them closer to the cliff side and then nodded. "Serenity, take a few steps back from the cliff, please. I'll be helping you to the top."

Serenity did as she was told, but with a bit of curious confusion. The set up seemed increasingly ridiculous, but they still followed Seto's orders. He nodded to her once she was far enough away, and then took a moment to survey his plan. Everything seemed in place, so he pulled a card from his deck box and placed it on the ground. Then, he walked back toward Serenity. He scooped her up in his arms with one fluid motion, and muttered a quick, "Hold on," to her.

"Rising Air Current!" Seto declared, and instantly the card on the ground emitted a bright light. All around the edge of the cliff, the air suddenly rose with an incredible force. It picked up underneath the cape Damien wore and both he and Yugi were catapulted into the air. Higher and higher they rose, until finally the air current cut off just shy of the cliff. Their momentum carried them the rest of the distance, depositing them on the edge of the cliff. Frantically, they scampered to safety.

Then, Seto darted forward with all haste. The second he hit the air current he dived forward. The air picked him up and flung him high above. With princely grace Seto manoeuvred himself to hit exactly on the edge of the cliff. Unfortunately, his toe caught the edge of the cliff and he instead landed unceremoniously atop Serenity. Realizing what a compromising position he was in, he rolled off of the girl and pulled himself to safety, tugging Serenity after him by an arm.

"Would it have killed you to explain that _before_ we did it?" Damien snapped.

"Come on, prince, we could have used some warning," Yugi agreed.

Seto merely grunted, dusting himself off and recovering the cape from Damien.

"Serenity will agree with me. Right?" Damien called. No answer came. "Serenity?"

They turned and saw Serenity staring in awe at the vista from the climb. Beneath them stretched a lush jungle, fertilized by the rain that fell before the desert. Its verdant greenery sparkled with life and vitality as it stretched like a great moss carpet. But what Serenity was staring at was beyond that. The young redhead lived in Japan. She had seen the ocean. The ocean in Japan, however, was a grey-green hue and almost always reflected the pollution-ridden clouds of the overcast sky above. Kaiba's ocean was a sparkling sapphire, gleaming in the rays of the afternoon sun. Patterns of light danced on its placid surface, unbroken as far as the eye could see.

"Incredible," Serenity muttered to herself. Behind her sat a wasteland expanse of desert in which almost nothing could live. Ahead of her was a verdant jungle, and beyond that there was a perfect sea. Two opposites, separated by so very little.

"Wow, Serenity, would you take a look at that!" Yugi muttered.

"There it is, along the beach there," Damien told them as he pointed to the large fishing settlement along the sea. "Lortosia, the most beautiful city in the world."

Seto simply smirked. Damien had said the _most_ beautiful, and Seto was inclined to agree. Most of the people, even those in Lortosia, would likely call it the second most beautiful. Only the handful of people like Seto and Damien had seen the true ugliness in Sandalphon, the church capital.

They took a rest then, on the landing atop the mountain. Seto sat in thought somewhat away from the rest of the group. The others sat in a small circle on rocks that made makeshift chairs. They took the opportunity to steal a drink and a meal, ravenous and parched from their journey through the desert.

"Hey, there's something I've been wondering…" Serenity asked between bites of the jerky that Damien had provided them with. "Why did Tristan's body disintegrate and Michael's stay?"

Damien raised an eyebrow on you, and then sighed. "Foreigners…" he muttered, "What do they teach you guys in school? When a duel monster kills someone, his or her spirit is absorbed into the monster. In a way, its how they eat. It's a process called soul binding, through which two souls become one, more complete soul. When someone dies naturally, or is killed by a human, the soul has no suitable soul with which to bind. Instead, it stays in the body until it festers into a malignant spirit or is refined into a monster card."

Honey eyes churned with confusion as she thought it over. "How can a human soul merge with a monster's soul?"

"Monsters have more in common with us than you know," Seto answered as he rejoined the group. "We're all from the same creator, after all. Isn't that right, Damien?"

"So they tell us," Damien replied.

The two seemed to share an inside joke for a moment, and then Seto turned his eyes to the others. "Let's move."

The group descended the less steep side of the mountain into the jungle. Seto strode toward another invisible objective, and this time Damien was with him as though their target should be obvious. They worked their way down and into the jungle for another half hour before they found their way to their objective.

They came to the edge of a river, flowing away from its natural spring higher up along the mountainside. There, tethered to a wooden stake in the ground, sat a substantial raft in the waters. "These rafts are left along main streams to make travelling through the jungle possible. We're lucky that there's one on this side, most of the time the people who use them just let them drift back to Lortosia," Damien explained.

"Get on," Seto commanded.

The group piled onto the raft, Serenity sitting up front for the view while Yugi sat toward the back, trying to balance it off. Damien took a seat at the far back, removing his boots and easing his feet into the warm water of the stream.

"Do you want to get leeches?" Seto sneered as he stepped onto the raft. His hands clutched a simple pole, used to navigate the stream, having already undone the tether.

"I have some salt," Damien replied dismissively.

Seto began to pole the raft down the river. While the others enjoyed the verdant scenery, the Dragon Prince's eyes remained ahead. Almost never blinking, he kept his eyes on the stream, carefully avoiding thick patches of vegetation and speeding them along. Serenity turned her eyes towards the warrior, armour gleaming in the late afternoon light and his navy cape billowing ever so slightly behind him. His deep blue eyes glowed with intellect and focus.

"What are you thinking about, prince?" she asked quietly.

The prince seemed surprised and turned to look at her. He paused for a moment, his eyes searching her and scanning her face, and then he turned back. "I've got a lot to think about, actually. This card… is a part of the Forbidden One. That means that, confirming my worst fears, Azrael wants to wake it. Moreover, I've just killed the remaining man responsible for the death of my brother, and on top of that I'm going to see a sage who was like a father to me in Lortosia that I haven't visited in almost two years.

"Despite that," he continued, "I was just reflecting on something that my mentor told me."

"Your… mentor?"

"General Shale. One of the last remaining champions." Seto caught the expression of confusion on Serenity's face and realized that required further explanation. "Champions are those trained in all three major disciplines. We can summon, cast and fight, but in exchange we don't get any innate abilities. It was why I had been hoping you had some of those abilities I lacked."

"What did he say?" Serenity asked, genuinely curious.

"He told me, 'Life will never miss a chance to push you down the stairs. If you've already fallen, it'll kick you a couple of times'."

Serenity screwed up her face and laughed a little. "Well, I guess that's one way of looking at it."

Smirking slightly, Seto turned his eyes back toward the petite girl sitting on the raft beside it. "And how would you choose to look at it, little mirror girl?"

The small girl looked back into the forest. "My brother sometimes says that all it takes is faith, in your friends and in yourself, and you can handle anything life throws at you. I'm not entirely sure I believe it."

"I can believe that you need faith in yourself. I've never met a friend worth depending on," Seto replied.

"Really?" Serenity asked, tilting her head to the side as she looked up toward the prince. "I'm finding I'm having a hard time stopping relying on my friends. They're so used to me relying on them, they have a hard time believing I can make it on my own."

"Don't let them convince you of that," Seto advised her as he returned his focus to advancing the raft. "I owe you. Two now, since you warned me about Michael. If you can take care of me, you should be more than able to take care of you."

Serenity smiled at Seto and rose to her feet. She moved to the back of the raft and sat beside Damien. The black haired rogue looked up at her with a grin. "Why, hello there. You should put your feet in the water, it's exquisite."

A blush crossed the young girl's face. "Damien, how many leeches are there on your feet?"

Sweatdrops formed on the back of Damien's head and he scratched his neck abashedly. "Two… maybe three?"

Serenity squatted beside Damien and wrapped her arms around her legs. "You… you just saw your brother die. How are you handling it?"

Damien shrugged. "I'd already thought him dead, or close to it. This… doesn't really change anything." The look on Serenity's face said that she didn't believe him. "Well, your friend was killed by Red-Eyes outside the cave. How are you faring?"

It was Serenity's turn to shrug. "I'll see him again," she reasoned.

"How… do you figure?" Damien replied.

Nervously, Serenity fidgeted. She'd forgotten that there was no heaven in this world, of course the idea made no sense to him. As quickly as possible, she formed an explanation. "Where I come from…" she started, "we believe that when you die, you go to a perfect world called heaven. So… even though Tristan's dead, I'll see him again there once I die."

Yugi chuckled quietly to himself. To him, it sounded clear that Serenity was trying to come up with an explanation for her slip up. Damien, however, seemed to buy it. The people of Kaiba knew little of Venyore, after all, and they had used the excuse that they were from Venyore to explain why they were unfamiliar with local geography while in the den of thieves.

"Heaven, eh?" Damien muttered as he leaned back on the raft. His eyes drifted to the clouds, now turning the slightest tinge of orange in the beginning of dusk. Quietly, he sat for a few moments while Serenity regarded him curiously. "Sounds nice," he finally decided, and Serenity smiled.

"I thought…" she said a moment later, "that you had said that Tristan was in a better place… after he died."

Damien nodded, "When I was a boy, being trained by Azrael, I used to spend time with the a prelate named Jophiel. He told me that our perception of the world is seen through a lens, and that that lens is our soul. So, when you're killed by a duel monster and your soul merges with its, your soul becomes more complete and the world becomes that much brighter, that much better. Kind of like your heaven."

Serenity nodded a bit. "Yeah… kind of."

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Lortosia, the Seaside Sapphire, had started as little but a single fisher's hut and a spring. Now, it was the third largest city in Kaiba. The city was designed to be shell-like in form, its white buildings jutting from blue tiled walkways and streets, bathed in the dusk light. The sprawling fishery housed eight hundred of the world's inhabitants, the wealthiest on average of any city in the world. As their raft slid into a dock on the westward river harbours, the foursome took a few moments to take in the city.

Seto, however, had very little time to waste. He was off before anyone was sure where to, and the group could only follow in a half-run. Twists and turns brought them deeper into the city, under the interconnecting spires and spikes of the various structures. Joyful voices met them in the street as villagers went about their daily business, hanging laundry from hanging ropes and cleaning vegetables in the streams and aqueducts that ran from the village's spring.

After a time, Seto came to the structure he had been looking for. Taller than most of the structures, the bluish tint of the plaster that composed the structure stood out from the unblemished white of most of the other structures. In the reddish light of the now full-on dusk, the tower was almost purple. They reached the large wooden door, only to find it nailed shut. A note was also nailed from the door. Seto tore the page from the door and read it aloud.

"_To whom it may concern, the proprietor of this library has been accused of heresy and blasphemies against the church and has been sent to stand trial at Sandalphon under the order of Prelate Azrael. _Damn! Either word travels fast or Azrael was prepared for us to discover his little game. Sagaelen…" Seto muttered.

"So, what do we do now, prince?" Damien asked.

"You shouldn't let Azrael push you around! What are you afraid of him for?" Yugi added.

Seto raised an eyebrow toward Yugi. He studied him, as though trying to determine whether or not he was serious, and then scoffed. "Ridiculous," he muttered. Suddenly, a hand clapped down on Seto's shoulder. The prince snapped into action, drawing his blade and wheeling around. In one fluid motion he knocked the arm away, grabbed it, spun the man and placed his sword to the back of his neck. A moment later, he released the man. He was a royal guard, after all.

"Don't ever touch me," Seto warned.

"I… I'm sorry, prince. I come bearing a message from Cobalt," he stammered.

Blue eyes scanned the messenger suspiciously. "How did you know I would be in Lortosia? I didn't even tell Steward Roland where I'd be."

"S-sir… messengers were sent to every stop the train makes to find you, sir," the messenger explained, sweating profusely and rubbing his sore arm.

"I see… then it must be urgent. Get on with it."

The guard stared at Seto for a moment, and then finally regained him composure. His face hardened, and he delivered his message. "Sir, King Aildren is dead."

Serenity, Yugi and Damien looked to Seto. His face showed neither grief nor joy, a simple look that explained that the fact didn't surprise him. Still, he stared at the messenger for some time. His father was dead. How was he supposed to feel about that? His mouth opened, and he spoke, "So they want me back for my coronation? I don't have time, I have more important things to do."

"S-sir?"

"I said get lost! I can't waste my time in some ceremony just to technically get a role I've been fulfilling since I was ten! Get the hell out of my sight!" Seto snapped.

The guard cowered, but he didn't leave. Seto fixed him with a glare that Yugi and Serenity had a hard time believing Kaiba could have programmed so perfectly, but the guard still didn't leave. "Sir… King Aildren was murdered. There's a rumour going around that you're responsible, and Prelate Azrael says that if you don't come back to defend yourself, with no heir apparent, the Council of Prelates will appoint a new king."

As his eyes wandered out to sea, a dark cloud covered Seto's face. "It's dusk," he stated, "There should still be one more train to Cobalt today." He turned back to the others, "There's no need for you to come."

Yugi laughed, "Come on, prince, we're not giving up that easy! We've got an adventure on our hands, and I don't want to miss it."

Seto tilted his head to the side and shrugged. "Suit yourself," he stated coolly and strode off to the train station.

The train was fairly typical, wooden and metal boxes on wheels hooked together. Around each of the passenger cars was a deck with a thick metal railing, covered by a black overhang. Seto purchased tickets for the four of them and selected the cart furthest back. It was early evening, the last of the sun's glow peeking out from beyond the ocean, and the group entered the cart proper to escape the cold night air.

Inside, the train cart was less than spectacular. It contained two bunk beds and a couch between them. Seto leaned against the door while the others selected beds. The tan and red colour scheme was also less than riveting, but the cart was warm and the beds were surprisingly comfortable. It wasn't long before the three fell asleep, leaving only Seto awake.

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Serenity awoke to find the moon high overhead, half-full in its rotation. Climbing out of bed, she could feel the mechanical hum as the train cruised over the track. The bed underneath her was undisturbed, the covers still tucked underneath the mattress. The redhead pushed the door open and walked to the back of the train.

With one foot atop the rail and his back against the wall of the cart, Seto stared into the night sky. Serenity stood at the corner of the deck, curiously regarding the prince. "Aren't you tired?" she asked, moving to stand to his side.

"I don't sleep much," Seto explained.

Serenity left it at that, choosing a spot of wall to lean against. It was cold, and she wished she'd taken more than her usual pink and yellow shirt and blue shorts to wear on this little game of Kaiba's. She wrapped her arms around herself, and stared off into the night sky.

"If you're cold, you should go back inside. Don't fall ill just to keep me company."

The girl offered Seto a warm smile. "It's alright, prince, I like it out here. The stars here are beautiful…"

Seto simply grunted. A moment later, Serenity found his cape offered to her at arm's length, and she couldn't help but accept. Draping it around herself, she instantly warmed up. The cape was already warm with body heat. It was a minor detail, but it showed the level of focus in Kaiba's game. "Thanks," she muttered, after a moment.

"You're from Venyore," Seto stated more than asked.

"That's right," Serenity replied.

The prince nodded slightly. His eyes reflected the light of the moon as he stared off into the night sky, his armour sparkling in the starlight. "They… In Venyore, they say that when you're born, a star is also born. Throughout all your life, that star grows and burns until it finally snuffs out when you die. They say that by locating which star is yours, and by seeing which other stars are around it, you can tell which people you'll become close to, which people you'll become enemies with and which people will be important to you."

Serenity tore her eyes from the star-scape long enough to study Seto's face. They remained firmly focussed on the heavens above, steadfast but somewhat pained. Finally, Seto turned to look back at her.

"My father's star is gone now. It used to be right…" he turned back and pointed toward a faint empty bit of space, "there."

The girl's honey eyes fell to her feet. "I guess…" she murmured, "I guess we've each lost someone important to us recently. Tristan, Michael, King Aildren… When it rains, it pours, I suppose."

Seto nodded slightly. "My father had been ill for ten years, it wasn't like this was a shock. Still… knowing he's gone… is different, somehow. Azrael had my father killed. He did it because he knew that I have the first piece of the Forbidden One and this was the only way to get me to return to Cobalt. I guess it's just one more thing he has to answer for."

"Are… are all the people in the church so bad?"

"No," Seto answered resolutely. "But some people within the church have forgotten why it was formed."

Serenity blushed a little, feeling somewhat stupid even though she shouldn't have known what he was talking about. "Why… was it formed?"

Seto turned and gave her a sceptical look. Seeing she was sincere, he explained. "Eight hundred years ago, or so, horrible monsters called 'God monsters' ruled over much of the world. Existence was difficult at best, and less than a quarter of humans born ever made it into their teens. But a hero emerged, a man by the name of Kaiba." Serenity stifled a laugh. That was predictable; Kaiba was the great hero in his own world. "He defeated the monsters and sealed them away, but he was mortally wounded. So great was his sacrifice, though, that the creator made his soul into a great duel monster with powers beyond those of even the God monsters.

"But people forgot about him, forgot what they had learned from his sacrifice. They became hedonistic, selfish, evil. Kaiba saw what had happened to the people he had sacrificed himself for and he became very sad. He asked the creator to grant him true death so that he wouldn't have to see his people like that, but the creator would not listen. He told Kaiba that people were that way because he had taken away what had kept them good, and pure: the fight for survival. So Kaiba struck down the rulers of the world with great fury, and the people called to him for mercy. One man, the only worthy man in the world, stepped forward. His name was Yugi, and he implored Kaiba to hold his wrath. In exchange, he offered Kaiba the peace of true death.

"That was when the church was established. Yugi became the Deiprelate, the ruler of the church to ensure the hearts of its people were ever hearts that believed in sacrifice for the good of all and in subordination to the creator. As he promised, he granted Kaiba rest. He hid his body somewhere in Kaiba, so that he could one day return, but until then he gave him a sort of death. That was when the church was established.

"Or so we are taught," Seto explained. "It was forbidden that any but the Deiprelate bring Kaiba back to the world, and he became known as the Forbidden One. These days, the church simple polices the people into a sort of dumb submission. It would seem that they've become so arrogant as to try and reawaken the Forbidden One. It's heresy, and moreover they don't realize that they won't be able to control him. That's why it's so important that we stop them."

Serenity nodded, and the two stood in silence for some time after that. The redhead dwelt on what the prince had said, the story, and the imagery within it. Was that how Kaiba saw the world, hedonistic and evil? Was that how the world was? He had certainly wasted no effort in the creation of his game, so rich and detailed was its histories and its mythologies. She was only pulled from her contemplation when they passed under an archway. With a loud squeal, the train pulled into Cobalt. It was dawn.

A/N: There's a lot of story telling in that one, and explanations. I actually like it, but let me know what you guys think. After all, that's a bit more important than what I think of what I wrote. Even if you don't like it, tell me. Come on, you know you want to.


	8. Therefore I Am

A/N: Wow. You guys are just… wow. I love the reviews I've been getting; you guys are great. I'm happy you like it! This chapter is probably my favourite so far, even though it doesn't contain any of my precious action sequences. It does contain a great deal of plot and the first of many plot twists to come. Read on!

**Disclaimer**: Don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! Nope. Don't own it.

**Chapter Eight: Therefore I Am**

The group had been provided with rooms within the castle of Cobalt. With that obligation fulfilled, Seto moved to fulfil another. He had been informed in no uncertain terms, upon his return to the city, that the Deiprelate himself wished to have an audience with him. Deiprelate Remiel was not refused an audience when he asked.

The residence, if it could be called that, of the Deiprelate whenever he was out of the holy capital Sandalphon was a massive shrine with very little furniture within. It was made entirely out of a single dull grey stone, once a mighty mountain, and it stood not far from the royal castle. Seto climbed the massive stone stairs alone and passed the eunuch guards at the door to enter into the shrine proper. Inside, he entered the antechamber to the main hall. There, he met the men who would be escorting him to meet Remiel.

"Chamuel, Raziel, Raphael," he droned levelly. Chamuel was almost never separated from the Deiprelate. The man's neck length blond hair matched the yellow robes that all prelates wore. His blue eyes sparkled with the affection he showed to all beings, especially his beloved superior. Raziel was of a darker sort. The prelate was bald, his eyes dark and piercing. As one would expect from a look at them, those eyes missed nothing. Raziel was never out of the loop. Only Raphael surprised Seto by his visit. Raphael was a close friend of Seto's, so it only made sense he'd want to be present for his coronation. Nevertheless, Raphael shied away from any formal sections of his position as prelate. It was nothing more than a title to him.

"Seto," the three prelates replied in unison.

"The Deiprelate is through this door. Please come with us," Chamuel explained.

They entered the room, a dark room with sheer, translucent curtains hanging from dozens of bars running across the high ceiling. Only a single structure dominated the room, a stone dais with a stone throne atop it, a single structure rising from the living rock of the floor. Remiel sat atop that throne, his eyes staring into his lap. Raziel immediately disappeared into the shadows. Raphael and Chamuel found positions on either side of the aged Remiel and Chamuel leaned down to whisper something in the Deiprelate's ear. His head perked up immediately, and he rose to his feet.

Remiel was as strange a sight as there was to be had in Kaiba. His hair was long, it brushed the ground as he walked, and white. So thick was it, and so straight and pure, that it was at times impossible to see the simple yellow robes he wore underneath it. His face was even more disturbing. The man was more than two hundred years old, but his face didn't bear a single wrinkle. Instead, it was that of a fresh-faced teenager barely beginning puberty. Almost deathly pale, his skin was smooth and unblemished. His eyes were a milky blue, for he was totally blind, but could still stare into the soul of whomever he decided to direct them upon. His voice, on the rare occasion that he spoke, was clear and melodic, showing none of his age. Seto bowed in reverence to the aged priest.

"Prince Seto," Remiel called softly, "No, King Seto, or soon to be. You are my equal, you should not bow to me."

Seto rose, inwardly wondering how Remiel knew he was bowing, "Your excellency, it's good to see you up and about. Tales of your failing health seem to be exaggerated."

"I couldn't miss your coronation, my friend. After all, I am expected to participate in it. I apologize that the rest of the Council of Prelates could not be in attendance. Phanuel remains in Sandalphon, though he writes regularly to Azrael here in Cobalt. Jophiel, I am afraid, is pulled away on business within the church," Remiel explained.

"And why is Azrael not here today?" Seto asked.

Remiel smiled warmly, "Because it is precisely of Azrael that I wish to speak to you. We could hardly have a candid conversation with him in attendance, wouldn't you agree?"

Seto blinked. He wanted to talk to him about Azrael? Did he know what was going on? Most, including Seto, believed that Remiel hardly had his capacities anymore. But if Remiel knew about Azrael's plans… and if he had done nothing, then…

"Ah, of course you do," the Deiprelate continued after a moment of silence. "This concerns the charges my overzealous young charge brought against you. Concerning the unfortunate murder of your dear father."

Then Seto understood. Azrael had claimed that Seto was behind the assassination of King Aildren. "I… hope you do not put any stock into such an accusation, your excellency."

"Oh, my dear Seto," Remiel chided him, "You should know me better than that. No one cared for your father more than you did. Moreover, you were already serving in a capacity as king. You stood nothing to gain. Such charges are ludicrous. In any case, I already know who was responsible for the death of your father. It was Azreal. I have no cause to mistrust that fact."

It was not news to Seto, but to hear Remiel state it so blatantly and so casually was a surprise nonetheless. "You… you are sure of this? Then what action do you have in mind?"

Remiel continued to smile warmly at Seto. He stepped down the stairs of the dais and walked to where Seto stood. With one pale hand, he patted Seto on the shoulder. "Azrael's actions are not unknown to me," he crooned softly, with distinct purpose. "Nor are your own. Please, entrust me with the card."

Seto stared at the Deiprelate in horror. His eyes widened and he tried to rasp a reply. "What…" he began, "What do you plan to do with it?"

"You know the answer to that question as well as I do, Seto. The human experiment failed. It's time to move on. Only with the aid of the Forbidden One is that possible."

"The human…experiment?" Seto gawked. "How can you be so callous? Raphael, Chamuel! Try to talk some sense into him!"

Chamuel smiled condescendingly at Seto. "Prince, no one is more sure of this course than Deiprelate Remiel. I assure you, he has nothing in mind for the human race but the most merciful possible end."

Seto tore away from Remiel and stepped back. "End? _End_? Can you even hear yourselves? This is insanity! You're talking about the obliteration of your own species! It's ridiculous!"

Remiel's disturbing smile remained plastered on his face. "Please, Seto, give me the card."

The prince grabbed for his sword, and found that it wasn't there. Remiel was holding it in his right hand, still smiling broadly. "Even if I had it," Seto spat, "I wouldn't hand the card over to you. I'd sooner destroy it."

Raziel stepped out from the shadows, passing between Seto and Remiel. His dark eyes pierced into Seto's soul, but he was already turning toward Remiel. "He does not have the card," Raziel informed him.

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Serenity returned to the room they had been provided with on their arrival at the royal castle. She, Damien and Yugi had spent the morning walking around the grounds. As it turned out, most of the rooms within the castle were completely empty. Seto was now the only one living in it, besides a small garrison of guards and some sundry servants. The room they had been furnished with was the only guest room, a simple stone room with five comfortable single beds, each with a trunk at the end.

She returned to her bed to find a small cloth packet atop it. Cautiously, she picked it up in her hands and inspected it. "What have we here?" she muttered, opening up the cloth. Inside were three items, a card worth three hundred Mokus, three train tickets south to a stop called Yugi's Pass and finally the Left Leg of the Forbidden one. As she blinked at the third item, she found a note had fallen out of the packet.

"Serenity," she read, "When you read this, I will be in a meeting with the Deiprelate. I remain hopeful that it will end well, but nevertheless I must entrust this card to you. You and your friends must remain in Cobalt no longer than my coronation, then you must head south. There is a shrine in Yugi's Pass which, most likely, contains another piece of the Forbidden One. Beat Azrael's men there. Prove to me that there's such a thing as a friend worth trusting."

The girl blinked at the note, and then turned to the card. "Why do I get the sense there's a lot more going on here than I realize?" she muttered.

"Serenity, are you coming back out? We wanted to grab something to eat. What do you have there?" Yugi asked as he stumbled into the room.

"It's… that card we found. The piece of Exodia. Seto… left it here. Said he was going to see the Deiprelate. Do you even know what a Deiprelate is?" Serenity asked.

Yugi shrugged at the question, his attention obviously held by the card. He snatched it from Serenity's hand and examined it. "Deiprelate? I think it's Kaiba's version of the pope or something. Who cares? Why would Seto leave this here?"

Shrugging, Serenity sat on the edge of her bed. "Seems like he wants us to take it and leave Cobalt. I guess he doesn't trust anyone here with it."

"No," Damien's voice declared from the doorframe, "He knows Azrael's hands can grab anything in this city. If they know he has the card, and I'm willing to bet they do, the best thing we can do is get out of the city."

Yugi nodded slightly, then sighed. "I wanted to see his coronation," he whined.

Damien replied with a sigh of his own. "The coronation will be at midnight. We'll leave on the train immediately after that, agreed?"

The other two companions nodded. They were going to be in for an interesting day.

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Seto walked atop the parapets of the castle with nervous restlessness. No one in the kingdom had the power to disquiet him except that blasted Deiprelate. Until now, he had assumed it was simply a result of the stark contrast between the man's age and appearance, coupled with the bizarre voice and demeanour he maintained at all times. But the man was truly a monster. He had likely been behind Azrael's actions the entire time. He had called humanity an experiment!

Running a hand through his hair, Seto exhaled slowly. He had to calm down. This did not change anything. The church had been his enemy in one way or another for some time. The only that had changed was his perception of just how deep the corruption went.

"I apologize for what transpired in there today, Seto. I had not foreseen this, you must believe me," Raphael declared from behind the pacing prince.

Seto turned to regard his long-time friend. Raphael's medium length red hair framed his icy blue eyes. He was almost the image of the prince, if it wasn't for his thinner build and different hair colour. "How long has it been going on?"

"According to Raziel, Remiel's been planning this for over a decade. They're only now putting the plan into action. It seems there was a delay over the way to unseal the shrines. The proper method, the use of silver cards as I'm sure you're aware, was discovered by accident in a shrine in the Terminus Mountains. They've already recovered the right arm," Raphael explained apologetically. "But now that you know, and are apparently determined to fight against, their plans they will most likely accelerate them."

"I have… associates… who are aiding me in this endeavour. I assure you, they are unknown to even Raziel. As long as the leg is with them they will be unable to reconstruct the Forbidden One." As Seto said the words he tried to gauge Raphael's reaction. The man had always been loyal, but loyalties were easily purchased in Kaiba. He should know, he'd already bought Raziel's. Or, at least, a share of it. It would seem even the two-faced Raziel held some things in confidence.

"Did you make some friends, Seto?" Raphael asked slyly.

A moment passed in stunned silence, and then Seto let out a heartfelt chuckle. "You sound so hopeful. When did things get so complicated, Raphael? Seems like only yesterday the two of us were young teens getting into trouble and trying to get out. Now I'm worrying about getting assassinated during my coronation."

"You always had to worry about being assassinated. You're just starting to realize it. I have to return before Remiel realizes that I've been gone. Good luck, Seto." With that, Raphael walked off. Seto turned and regarded the setting sun over his city.

Serenity joined him a moment later. Damien and Yugi had gone off to spend the money Seto had provided them. Of course, the nobleman had intended for it to be for food and necessities, but it didn't stop the pair. Leaning against a battlement, Serenity took a moment to take in the troubled expression on his face. "What happened, prince?"

With one hand, Seto rubbed the back of his head to relieve some of the mounting tension. "Things just got more complicated. Forget it, you don't need to worry about it."

The auburn haired girl gave the prince a look. How much he sounded like Kaiba there. Well, but he wasn't. For one thing, he didn't really exist. More than that, though, the AI was a good deal friendlier and more open than the CEO. And he had all of the incredible good looks and dark, rugged demeanour. What was she thinking? He-didn't-exist. Period.

"What?" Seto asked quietly as he observed the strange smile that crossed her face.

Her red hair flew out to either side as she shook her head and stifled a chuckle. Okay, that had sounded _exactly_ like Kaiba. "Nothing… you just… reminded me of someone I know. He looks exactly like you, actually."

"Really?" the prince asked coyly, "A little mirror girl to my Countess of Landstar? A prince to my pauper?"

Serenity shrugged a bit, still grinning slightly. "Something like that," she said, "Although he's no pauper. Then again, he's no prince either."

Seto nodded his comprehension. "A merchant, then."

Again, the small girl shrugged. "I guess you could call him that. Anyway, you're not really like him."

With a glint in his eye, Seto shot her a small smirk. "How so?"

The girl smirked back slightly. "Well, for one thing, you actually talk to people every now and then, instead of just yelling at them. And you're… kind of nice. And reasonable, which is a definite difference."

"Sounds like you don't care much for this guy," Seto observed.

"He's alright," Serenity shrugged. "Well, probably. I don't really talk to him that often, and when I do he's less than forthcoming with conversation. I've probably gotten to know you better in the couple of days I've known you than I've ever gotten to know him."

"Perhaps the right opportunity hasn't arisen. Everyone has their good attributes and their bad. I may be a cynic, but I still try and find positive attributes in those I meet. You, for example, are a bit of a pushover. Despite that, you have a strong spirit and a good heart. You're kind, which is rare, and you're not too proud to admit your own flaws. This guy you know, he may be a bit reclusive. But, even if he is, he probably has a reason. It's worth trying to find your way past that barrier, because you may find you like what you discovered. After all, you already told me that he's strikingly good looking," Seto elucidated.

"No I didn't, I said he looked like… hey!" Serenity shouted, and shoved the prince. Her hand brushed his during the shove, and though Seto rocked back she could have sworn there was a blush on his face. He started slightly, stealing a confused glance at the hand where they had made contact. It was burning.

Serenity hadn't caught the glance, and had already dismissed the blush. She turned back to the view of the sun setting over Cobalt. "It's beautiful, don't you think?" she asked.

Time seemed to freeze for a brief instant. "Yes," he replied.

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"What the hell just happened?" Mokuba demanded.

The tech looked at him with something akin to horror on his face, starting to sweat. "Uh… sir," he began, "it appears… that something lagged the Overmind."

Mokuba rolled his eyes. "No fooling? I can see that, detective. How is that possible? Access the log of requests sent during the lag."

With fingers flying, the tech quickly brought up the log. "Impossible," he muttered, "they're all from the same program. AI-00001?"

"Prince Seto," Mokuba responded. "Why? What are the queries?"

As he scrolled through the almost infinite list of queries, the tech read off some of the more salient ones. "What is beauty? What uses of colour define attractiveness? What forms are visually pleasing? How is beauty decided upon? In what way does the mind consider beauty?"

Mokuba turned to his computer and called up the list of principles for Seto. Distractedly, he realized that Tristan was still in the control room. Some kind of glitch had just occurred, and those not involved in tech support would have to be cleared. "Tristan, you're going to have to leave."

"Why?" Tristan replied.

"We're undergoing a system glitch, all non-technical personnel must be cleared from the control centre."

"System glitch!" Tristan yelled, "What about Serenity? What about Yugi? Are they in danger? If they are, you better shut this down this instant-"

"Tristan, shut up and leave. They're not in any danger right now, but if you keep distracting us we won't be able to fix the glitch. Now get a move on," he cried.

The spiky brunette stared at Mokuba for a moment, and then hopped down into the test room. He watched the activity in the control room with nervous expectation. What was going wrong?

"Mokuba? Er, Mr. Kaiba, sir. You should take a look at the waveform patterns we're getting off of Seto," one of the techs called.

Rising, Mokuba turned and strode to the screen. "Impossible!" he muttered, awe clear in his voice, "They're human."

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Seto and Serenity had spent the evening chatting idly on the parapets. The prince was unnerved by his meeting with Remiel, and for whatever reason he found the girl's presence soothing. In turn, Serenity was able to discover a lot more about the workings of the world they were in. It was a mystery to her, largely, and Seto's insight seldom proved useless. However, he seemed less open as the evening progressed, and more guarded.

"Did I say something wrong?" Serenity asked finally.

The prince gave her a strange look, scanning her face to try and understand the motivation behind the question. "No. Why?"

"You seem… distant, all of a sudden. I hope… I didn't say anything to offend you," she explained.

"No," the prince replied levelly again, turning his gaze back to his city. "I have a lot on my mind."

Two royal guards entered from the castle shortly thereafter. "Prince? It's time to begin preparations for your coronation. Please come with us."

Seto nodded, but before he left he turned to Serenity. "Remember. As soon as my coronation finishes…"

Serenity nodded in reply. "I know."

It was time.

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"Status report," a very irritated Seto Kaiba barked as he strode into the control centre. Mokuba had been expecting the visit (he had informed Seto of the problem himself) but nevertheless he nearly jumped out of his skin when Kaiba stormed into the room.

"Seto! Right, uh, just a second…"

Mokuba typed into his computer and the view screen sprung to life. He had spent the last three hours compiling all the necessary information on what exactly had occurred with Prince Seto, and he expected that his brother would not be happy.

"Mokuba…" Kaiba warned sternly, aware that there was a serious problem with his program, but frustrated that he was unable to locate it.

"Right," Mokuba replied sombrely. "We've known for some time that, in extreme situations, it's possible for AI's to spawn new tertiary principles. We've also theorized that, if enough coinciding tertiary principles were spawned, secondary principles could be formed. Up until now we believe that it was statistically impossible for enough tertiary principles to be formed to spawn enough secondary principles to create a primary principle. As it turns out, that's not actually true.

"Prince Seto, AI-00001, was connected by the Fate Generation Engine by a red line to Serenity Wheeler, Player-72. Furthermore, Player-72 saved AI-00001's life on more than one occasion, resulting in AI-0001 beginning to spawn tertiary principles toward the effect of protecting the girl. This was normal, acceptable anomalous activity. That changed approximately three hours ago.

"The question was innocuous enough, but the result was cataclysmic. She asked him if he _thought_ a sundown over Cobalt was beautiful. Well, the result was this: first, he formed tertiary principles out of motivation, urging him to understand and answer the question. Furthermore, these formed similar secondary principles on the subject, creating a further drive. These principles stacked up in less than half a second, until finally they formed this primary principle," Mokuba declared, tapping a few keys on the computer. The screen switched from Seto's principle chart to focus on a single principle. Running quickly through the plaintext translator, it spat out on the screen as '_Don't disappoint Serenity'_.

"Ridiculous," Kaiba muttered as he read the output. How could an AI designed after him care so much about the mutt's sister? He'd been watching, intermittently, the progress of his AI and he'd had occasion to witness the ineptitude of the girl as a summoner as well.

"In any case, from the point on he required an answer do that question. Unfortunately, the question began 'Do you think…' He doesn't, or rather, he didn't. For whatever reason, that answer was deemed unacceptable by his programming, so instead it was determined that he needed to think. That's when the Overmind lagged. It was calculated that it was a prerequisite of sentient thought that the subject be human, or possess a human mind. As a result, the Overmind called the waveform thought patterns of the most similar human in its logs and spliced them with AI-0001's though patterns."

"Spliced them?" Kaiba echoed, awe clear in his voice. "With who?"

Mokuba sighed, "I told you, the most similar human in the logs. You."

A/N: Good? Bad? Ugly? Let me know! That ending section, in which its revealed the Kaiba's thought patterns were spliced with the AI, was the result of a lot of thinking about how to solve a problem I was having. Originally, I had planned to reveal only at the end of the last chapter that Prince Seto had been Kaiba all along. However, I decided that even in a role-play Kaiba wouldn't be as open or accepting as Prince Seto needed to be. I didn't like the idea of the entire romantic relationship (which will come out if I ever get to it) being the result of carefully calculated computer algorithms either. This was the solution. Let me know what you think of it.


	9. Heavy is the Head

A/N: So I go to check my reviews, and I say, "Well, by this point I should have maybe three to five." Boom! Twenty. Twenty new reviews. You guys are awesome! And I'm glad you guys like it so much! The first act is now over, and the second is beginning in earnest in this chapter. Things promise to get very interesting, and the romance should begin in some capacity for the first real time next chapter. But until then, I give you this little thing I like to call chapter nine. Enjoy.

**Disclaimer**: I played Kazuki Takahashi in a game of rock-paper-scissors for the rights to Yu-Gi-Oh! Not only did I lose, I also lost the rights to Excel Saga. Sigh.

**Chapter Nine: Heavy is the Head**

Kaiba stared at the two overlapping waveform patterns. They were distinct, but had so many points of commonality that the connection was irrefutable. Moreover, with each pass the second came more and more to resemble the first. Prince Seto's thought patterns were different, defined by his own fictional experiences and relationships, but he was quickly developing to think like the real Seto Kaiba. Moreover, he was _thinking_. That in itself was the most important technological development in decades, and it had occurred by accident.

"Mr. Kaiba? We need your answer. The tech group, myself included, would suggest that we terminate the program as quickly as possible. Not only is this development unexpected, but it is potentially dangerous to those in the program." The reporting tech pushed his glasses back up his nose and shifted uncomfortably. Seto fixed him with a cold stare.

"Can you even hear yourself? Do you know what you just suggested? _That_," he spat, pointing at the waveform pattern, "Is the thought process of a living being. However it happened, Prince Seto is, for all intents and purposes, a sentient being. We cannot arbitrarily _kill_ a living being because it is inconvenient."

"O-of course, Mr. Kaiba," the tech replied sheepishly, taking the first opportunity when Kaiba averted his gaze to steal back to his seat. Mokuba joined his brother and stared at the undulating patterns.

"Your game is somewhat unpredictable, big brother," Mokuba quipped, smirking ever so slightly. He actually liked this latest turn of events. If nothing else, it was interesting.

"You're telling me," Kaiba muttered. "Take Remiel for example. When I programmed him what I wanted was a Cardinal Richelieu. What I got was Mephistopheles. Or take Seto for that matter. Perhaps personalities are too complex to program with certainty."

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Seto was wearing his usual black pants, high black boots and a black leather belt. That was all; he was naked from the waist up. It was part of the coronation ceremony. Warlord Fallacian would give him his armour and sword. Deiprelate Remiel would give him his cape and crown. The ceremony was meant to emphasize the unity of the triumvirate. Finally, Serenity understood what he had been so worried about. Despite that, she couldn't help enjoying the view. The prince had very few scars for a warrior of his experience. His muscles were toned and lean, but packed a strength that defied their compact size. Save for those few scars that marred his torso, he was perfect. Serenity couldn't help but cringe inwardly at that thought; Seto didn't even exist! Did that make her enjoying this a form of hentai?

He strode through the crowd in the courtyard of the castle. Royal guards held the citizens, eagerly watching their beloved prince, at bay as he strode through. Most of them stood under the black fabric overhangs, out of the now pouring rain. Seto seemed not to notice. His step was purposeful and his eyes stayed locked ahead. Even so, they noted at least three dozen of the church's eunuch 'holy guards' on the platform ahead, distinctive by their yellow capes. The military had a small presence on the platform as well. Besides Fallacian, three other prominent military officials stood in the background. Seto risked a glance to the side to analyze some of the members of the crowd. He noticed that several of the 'citizens' carried weapons, poorly concealed. Soldiers of fortune, he concluded. His men were outnumbered.

They would take him today. Now.

Finishing the walk down the makeshift aisle, lined on either side by guards, Seto strode up the steps and stood facing Remiel and Fallacian in exactly the position he was meant to stand in.

From between the other two members of the triumvirate, a member of Azrael's blackguard stepped forward. "Seto of Kaiba, you are hereby charged with the murder of King Aildren of Kaiba. You are to surrender to the Holy Guard immediately until such a time as a tribunal is convened under which you can stand trial," the blackguard declared, boldly shouting the charges so that the crowd would hear.

"Under whose authority?" Seto replied coldly.

It was a reply the blackguard had been expecting. "Under the combined authorities of the Council of Prelates and the Royal Senate."

The declaration was meant to strike fear, or unrest, into the prince. Seto seemed unfazed. "And if I refuse?"

"Then you will be killed where you stand," the warrior threatened.

Seto bowed his head, and for a moment it appeared that he was giving up. He whispered something quietly. Raising his head, his gaze met that of the blackguard. "So be it," he declared.

With one deft motion, Seto sent himself flipping backward, landing on a knee at the base of the stairs to the platform. In another, he pulled a card from his boot and held it at arm's length. Immediately, it sprang to life. The darkness of night was, for a brief instant, defeated by the miraculous eruption of light that issued forth from the card. The instant after that, Kaiba stood beside a massive Blue-Eyes White Dragon.

His hand reached out and grabbed the neck of the beautiful serpentine creature as he threw himself atop its back. With one flap of its gargantuan wings, the beast was in the air. A moment later, it was soaring high skyward. Fireballs soared past them, and Seto gritted his teeth. "Looks like they got organized pretty quickly. Time to put some air between us," he declared.

Blue-Eyes kicked into overdrive, its wings flapping frantically as it rose into the air. The air around them crackled with magical energy as explosions, ice shards and lightning bolts materialized to either side. The dragon flailed frantically, avoiding the brunt of the magical attacks, but each successful strike charred its body. It was weakening.

Seto, however, was prepared. Pulling back on Blue-Eyes' neck, the dragon levelled out and began circling the assembly below. Reaching into his other boot, Seto removed the only other card he had managed to bring along. Focussing on the area below them, the prince activated his Heavy Storm magic card.

Heavy Storm was a pricey and powerful magic card. It immediately summoned a tearing wind, forcing the rain into an almost horizontal spiral. The magical winds of the storm would eliminate any and all magic fired at them, or from them for that matter, but wouldn't faze the dragon. As a further advantage, the density of the falling rain spiral obscured the view of the bright silver dragon. "Onward and upward," Seto whispered to the dragon, and it eagerly complied.

Less than a minute later they passed into the dark, looming clouds. Buffeted by natural winds, Seto clutched tightly to his dragon as the rain pelted his naked torso. Finally, they came out above the clouds and into the cool sereneness of the night. But there was no time to waste. Summoned monsters only remained for so long, and if Seto's Blue-Eyes White was forced to return from whence it came before he found ground, ground would find him at a breakneck speed. With a clear objective in mind, Seto spurred his dragon onward.

When he felt he had covered enough ground, Seto found a small gap in the large black thunderheads and aimed his dragon downward. Time was against him, and the prince found himself spurring the dragon on with all haste. The descent turned out to be too steep, so he pulled the dragon upward to level out somewhat. It was fortunate that this slowed him down considerably, because just then the summon wore off.

The prince fell into total freefall, plummeting nearly five stories to the ground below. He landed in a large tree, ricocheted between branches and was finally ejected from it, falling the last few metres to land hard on the ground. A groan escaped his lips, and he collapsed into an oblivious sleep.

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"How did I know you would run here, prince? I suppose you're more predictable than most people realize. The Dragon Prince, the rogue of Cobalt. Murdered his father and then fled the charges? Preposterous. I just wanted to see you off," the voice declared as Seto's eyelids cracked open.

"Who… are you?" Seto rasped.

"Must've been a pretty bad fall if you don't recognize my voice. Perhaps it would bring it back if I yelled, 'Damn it, prince, get back to your studies and leave my son alone!'"

"Warlord… Fallacian?" the prince guessed.

"In the flesh. What I have left of it, anyway. Sounds like Remiel stuck it to you pretty bad. Nobody really believes that you had anything to do with King Aildren's death, besides some of the more impressionable of the citizenry. Azrael, however, seized the opportunity. You've been gone less than twelve hours and he's already pushing for who he wants to be the next king."

"Twelve hours!" Seto cried, jerking upright. He was lying against a rock, not far from the tree he had landed in. Fallacian was alone, standing over him and smiling sarcastically at him. Fallacian wore full plate mail, meant for mounted combat, that only he and his superhuman physical strength could handle. His face was wrinkled, with both laugh lines and deep scars traversing it, and he had a well-kept grey beard and short grey hair.

"Relax, prince. I'm surprised you can even move. Hell, I'm impressed you made it out of Cobalt. I think that must be the first time the _entire_ blackguard was ever in one place at one time," Fallacian grunted.

Seto, however, did not relax. Wincing and straining the entire time, he rose to his feet. "The girl, and her friends…" he muttered, "I left the card with them… I have to make sure they're okay…"

Fallacian raised an eyebrow and then let out a sigh. "Three of them? Redheaded girl, a rainbow haired sorcerer and a rogue?"

"You know them?" Seto asked.

"I escorted them to the train after some of the Holy Guard gave them a hard time. They made it to the train alright, but… Five blackguards also entered the train. If they know about them, then they're already dead."

Snapping his head to the south, Seto's eyes widened in terror. "No. They wouldn't kill them until they were sure about the whereabouts of the card. I may still be able to save them."

"Even if they _are_ still alive, how can you fight _five _elite blackguards? Seto, this is lunacy!" Fallacian cried.

"_I _can," Seto replied simply. "There's no warrior in Kaiba who's superior to me. I will save her."

"She's not Mokuba, Seto," Fallacian stated coldly. "Saving her won't bring your brother back. Your kingdom is not lost to you, if you head back now then you can still reclaim it."

Fixing Fallacian with his cold blue gaze, Seto's narcissistic smirk fled from his face. The wordless exchange spoke volumes, and Fallacian realized that the hot-headed prince would not be dissuaded.

Fallacian rolled his eyes and walked back to where his belongings lay in a pile not far away. Rummaging through them, he came back with a pack full of objects. "Your armour, your sword, your cards. You'll need these if you have any hope of defeating those warriors. I added your father's card to your deck. It's a Tri-Horned Dragon. Not silver, interestingly enough. Be careful, one of the blackguards is a summoner. Expect him to be too low level to unsummon your Blue-Eyes, but he'll still offer a good deal of resistance."

Seto nodded, quietly absorbing every word as he armed himself. Taking a few steps to the south, he turned his head back over his shoulder. "Go home, now, Fallacian, and forget you ever knew me. I'm dead to Cobalt."

The warlord nodded as well. "Azrael wants Bakura to be the new king. I shall see to it that he does a good job of it."

With a slight sigh, Seto turned back to the south. "That position doesn't hold any power anymore anyway. That politician can have it. I can do more free of it," he declared resolutely. With that, he drew the card he had used earlier from where he had replaced it in his boot. "Again, I'm sorry Mokuba. I don't want to have to use your soul card, but it would seem that necessity calls again."

Seto raised his brother's silver Blue-Eyes White Dragon card over his head and called it forth into being. Grabbing a hold of it, he vaulted himself onto the draconic beast's back and raced to the south. It seemed that he was constantly fighting time. Why should today be any different?

In a matter of a few moments he had located the train tracks, not far to the east of where he had fallen. He drew himself alongside them and spurred his dragon onward, racing south along the parallel rails of the conveyance. Minutes passed slowly, but still he urged onward. Shortly, he was rewarded for his drive by the familiar cone of steam rising from the top of the powerful engine. The train could not match his dragon for speed, and he gained on it moment by moment. Once he had drawn close enough, he was shocked by what he saw.

Atop the train were two distinct groups. The first was a pair, the form of Damien holding Serenity in his arms. He was turned away from the engine, back down the body of the locomotive. The group he was facing towards were clearly the blackguards Fallacian had described, each garbed as common warriors with one single piece of yellow denoting them as warriors of the church to those with discerning eyes. There were five of them, clustered tightly on one cart, drawing closer to Damien and Serenity. The scene spurred Seto further onward, desperate to save those that he had wilfully endangered.

As he drew closer still, almost coming alongside of the train, he noticed Yugi drag himself atop a cart not far behind the blackguards. They hadn't noticed him yet, and it became clear that that was an advantage the boy intended to use. Calling forth his Hammer Shot magic card, the magical weapon streaked forward and struck the warrior second to the back, sending him flying from the train.

Unfortunately, the sudden discharge of magic drew the attention of the blackguards backward. Yugi didn't miss the look of horror on their face, and thought to himself that his use of magic must have been more effective than he realized. He didn't see what the blackguards saw, the prince atop a Blue-Eyes White Dragon bearing down on the train. Seto drew his sword and, with uncanny agility and balance, sprinted up the neck of his dragon. With a single blast from his dragon he could have wiped out the remaining blackguards, but he wouldn't allow his brother's soul card to soul bind with those miscreants.

The prince leapt atop the furthest back of the train's carts, five back from where Yugi stood proudly. He motioned for his dragon to go around to the blackguards, hoping to distract any summoned monsters the summoner would choose to conjure. He had no idea how much time Blue-Eyes had left, but whatever it had would have to suffice. Drawing his blade and finding strength in its familiar feel, the prince forced his aching muscles and bones forward in a dead heat toward the blackguards.

Undaunted, the blackguard quickly formed formations. The one furthest forward kept his attention on his true prey, the girl and the rogue, and advanced with unfailing ire. Toward the back, the furthest back of the blackguards retreated behind the other two remaining soldiers, fishing a card out from his deck to deal with the incoming dragon. The other two blackguards charged toward Yugi, who was beginning to realize that they were most likely _not_ afraid of him.

The holy warriors reached Yugi before the prince, and their initial onslaught was curbed only by Yugi's Negate Attack card. Seizing the opportunity, the fledgling sorcerer retreated back a train before breaking into a run for the end of the conveyance. He was shocked to find he passed Prince Seto almost as soon as he turned. In an instant the prince had reached the two warriors. Even as he hit them, the summoner's Punished Eagle was striking Seto's dragon with an equal fury. In a veil of feathers and crackling energy, Seto fell upon the blackguards.

"I don't have time to waste on you!" Seto spat. His blade curved upward and deflected two identical downward arcs from the opposing warriors, each using a single bastard sword. He pushed their blades upward, reversing their momentum, and then drew his own blade back. With one forceful forward shot he fired the blade between the two blades of his antagonists. Then, with a twist and spin of the blade he forced their weapons to either side. Having successfully divided the combatants, he slid between them.

The close quarters, for the narrowness of the train cart prevented much space between the warriors, limited the movement of the combat. The warriors could scarcely bring their blades down without possibly skewering themselves. So they pressed in from above, playing right into Seto's hands. His own blade swung back and forth between the two blades with such speed that each pair of blocks sounded as a single ringing blow. He forced the timing little by little, until a moment later the two blades came together at the same moment. Seto dropped to a knee; his foes' blades came together above him, eliminating his need for the parry. Instead, he kicked his knee forward and drove the top of his skull into one of the blackguard's chest. Sprawling backward, the warrior took a tumble and barely managed to grab the side of the train.

Blackguard number two had, of course, regained his composure by now. With his blade already in a downward arc, he complimented it by forcing his knee forward toward the prince's skull. In one fell swoop, the prince brought his free blade forward and sliced open the front of the knee. In the next miraculously efficient move, he dived backward and out of the range of the sword. He was on his feet in no time, and his foe was dizzied by the ringing of his blade striking the solid metal of the train cart. It was hardly a challenge for the prince to swat the blackguard's blade aside and, in the reverse of the motion, slash across his chest. The fallen warrior tumbled from the train and onto the rocky terrain below. He was quickly left behind.

Robbed of the opportunity to celebrate his victory, Seto spun to face the blackguard behind him, already climbed back from his fall off the side of the train. It took only a split second for Seto to realize that he'd miscalculated; the guard was striking and his tip was down. The parry was impossible. He didn't need to make it. Struck from the side by Serenity's frantically clawing Kurama, the blackguard passed over the edge of the train and struck the ground in a nearly lifeless sprawl. Again, Seto was robbed of his celebration. This time it was due to the massive Stone Ogre Grotto bearing down on him from further along the train.

"Wonderful," Seto muttered sarcastically as he saw the massive rock monster stride from cart to cart in a single massive stride. The prince shrunk into a squatting pose, holding the blade horizontally in his right hand at eye level. He watched carefully, studying the movement of the beast for weaknesses. He certainly couldn't just stab it; it was made of rocks. Perhaps the blue glow emanating from where its face should have been was its vulnerable point.

He didn't wait for the beast to get to him. He charged with abandon. Massive black rock fists slammed down at him, but Seto wasn't there. With blinding speed, he sprinted between the legs of the beast and leapt atop its back. His curved blade swung forward once, twice, each time ricocheting off the rocks and missing its target. Again, massive rock fists swung towards the prince, and he leapt to dodge the strike. There was only one thing he'd failed to take into account: the terrain below him was not stationary.

Though only slightly above the Stone Ogre Grotto's head, Seto was high enough to sustain a fair amount of hang time. The train underneath him sped on, and Seto's forward momentum was no match for it. For a single moment he hung suspended, and then he almost seemed to be sucked back as he fell. A single foot made contact with the last speeding cart, but it wasn't enough for him to regain traction. Inverted by the collision, the prince fell.

It was time for the sorcerer to snap into action. Yugi drew his Shift trap card out of his deck box as he saw Seto make the fateful leap. When he hit the train, he activated it. Just as the prince seemed about to hit down, it wasn't the prince anymore. Instead, he had switched places with the stone giant, standing once again atop the train. The giant, in turn, crashed into the ground at a breakneck speed. It crumbled into gravel almost instantaneously.

This time the prince did have a spare moment, one he used to flash the caster a sarcastic smirk. Then, turning, he charged at the summoner. Even as he ran he thoroughly scanned the situation. Damien and Serenity were sorely pressed toward the front of the train; they had been chased to the engine and had little room left to retreat. Both Seto's Blue-Eyes and the Punished Eagle were nowhere to be found, and their fate could only be guessed at. Only the summoner remained to stand against Seto, and he was desperately selecting another combatant. Seto had no intention of letting him do so.

With a flick of his wrist, Seto's Cold Wave magic card was in his hand. The spell erupted brilliantly, sending an icy wave issuing forth towards the summoner. Completely consuming him in ice, the summoner's fingers remained frozen to the card he held. He'd never get a chance to use it. Seto didn't even stop as he passed the warrior. He simply brought his blade to bear and decapitated the blackguard.

His true target, though, remained in front of him. Serenity had used her summon earlier to call forth the Kurama that had defended Seto, and the summon had cost her. Unable to summon again due to cool down, she had left herself and Damien almost unguarded. Damien was no mean swordsman, but he wasn't a match for the blackguard. Serenity stood behind the rogue, whose blade desperately worked to hold the holy warrior at bay.

Serenity winced and withdrew as far as she could from the shower of sparks sent forth by the connecting blades. The blackguard used a greatsword that ought to have made quick work of Damien's rapier, but the rogue kept the battle close, keeping the warrior from gaining the momentum needed to cleave the weapon. But the strategy didn't hold. The warrior knocked the rapier down and stomped on the weak. Damien held, but he couldn't wrench the sword from beneath his foe's black boot. With deliberate force, the enemy drew back his massive sword for the killing blow.

But suddenly he paused. With something akin to curiosity on his face, he stared down at the blade tip protruding from the middle of his chest. His fingers reached delicately toward it, and just as they reached its tip his entire body jerked. Seto wrenched the spur of his blade onto the blackguard's rib and, in one forceful motion, cast the body off of the moving train. Relief crossed over all three, and then four as Yugi joined them, of the companions.

Damien shot an appreciative glance at Seto. "Amazing how upset they get over an extra piece of carry-on," he quipped.

"Prince!" Serenity called as she pushed past Damien. "You're alright."

"Of course," Seto replied levelly, his cool tone not betraying the relief he felt at seeing the three, especially the girl, alive. "But you aren't. You're injured, Serenity."

Serenity blushed and glanced at the wound on her leg. She'd been clipped by one of the blades of the blackguards in the initial encounter. They'd fled as best they could, eventually choosing the roof of the train as the place to make their stand, but she'd been unable to run. Damien had carried her. She marvelled at the wound. How curious it was that it didn't hurt, and didn't bleed, and yet there was a deep gash in her calf.

Seto moved to grab the girl, but Damien cavalierly scooped the girl in his arms. With a slight giggle, the girl steadied herself against the rogue's shoulders.

"Come on, guys," Yugi admonished, "The roof of a train probably isn't the best place to have a reunion."

The group headed back toward the cart they'd been seated in, the newly rejoined prince following their lead. It was fortunate that he was behind the rest of the group, otherwise Damien might have caught the baleful glare that Seto was giving him.

A/N: I usually don't explain my allusions, but in this one it's too easy to miss Kaiba's meaning if you don't know to what I'm referring to. Cardinal Richelieu, while an actual historical figure, is treated here as the principle antagonist in _The Three Musketeers_. He's an enemy that is still polite, gentlemanly toward his enemies and who is tolerated as an inevitable necessity, if still an enemy. Mephistopheles is alternatively another name for Satan or his second in command. In either case, a truly sinister sort of enemy. Whew. So, with that out of the way, all that's left it to pester you to review. You know you wanna.


	10. Prince's Gambit

A/N: This would have come sooner, but _someone_ coughSetinecough said something that reminded me that I hadn't beaten FFX yet. Did you know you can lose four days and not even realize it? Okay, it wasn't _just_ FFX. I still also have to beat FFVIII, Dragon Warrior VII, Xenosaga, Baten Kaitos… someone asked me where I get my inspiration. Yeah. That. I got a flood of reviews. You guys are awesome! This fic almost has more reviews than Untouchable, and it's not even _close_ to done. Also, a quick note about the title. King's Gambit and Queen's Gambit are both chess openings that involve a high risk for the piece in question. There is obviously no prince in chess, but the idea is the same.

**Disclaimer**: You'll be happy to know I won the rights to Excel Saga back (which is good, because I was only borrowing them from Koshi Rikdo), but I have to hand it to Kazuki Takahasi. He knows when to quit. Still no Yu-Gi-Oh! rights…

**Chapter Ten: Prince's Gambit**

"You are overreacting, my dear Azrael. What threat do you think the prince poses to us? Or anyone poses to us? The will of the creator is with us, my dear friend. What force in the world could oppose that? Such a force does not exist," Remiel chided the much younger prelate.

"But Remiel! He could delay our plans! This project has been in the works too long to allow such…" the prelate trailed off as Remiel shot him a look that told him his tone was not permissible. Azrael's green eyes narrowed, but he said nothing. He knew better than to cross the Deiprelate. Yet.

"Just what is it that you think he is capable of? Yes, he is a great warrior, but he knows nothing of the human experiment, or of his precious Kaiba! He knows nothing, so he cannot be dangerous. Nor can that girl or her sorcerer friend. Foreigners. From Venyore no less!"

Azrael's eyes glinted as he glanced back up toward the Deiprelate. "You know this for sure?"

"When was the last time Raziel was incorrect?"

A wince. "Fair enough. Then who, oh all-knowing Deiprelate," Remiel didn't miss the sarcasm in Azrael's voice, "ought we be afraid of?"

"Once again, Azrael, my problem is your failing. Uriel. How much, exactly, your renegade blackguard knows is not clear, however he most definitely knows enough to be dangerous if he confides in the others. He, above all others, is the risk to us at the moment. How could you allow Uriel to escape like you did?"

"This again," Azrael spat. "Fallacian. Fallacian, Fallacian, Fallacian! He would never have escaped if it were not for Fallacian. In any case, if he were going to become dangerous, he would have done so by now."

"No! No, he would not have. He lacks the drive, the motivation to become dangerous. So far, all he has is his hate for you, and his love for Jophiel almost outweighs that. Dispatch of him, and do it now. Send Keith."

"Keith? Now we're going outside of the church? He's a bandit, Remiel!"

"Azrael," Remiel called, losing his smile and gaining an insistent firmness in his voice, "I encourage individual thought, but you are becoming insubordinate. Keith will accomplish the task. He has always done so before. He did splendidly on King Aildren, and that is irrefutable."

"Remiel…" Azrael replied levelly. "Are we going too far?"

"It is impossible to go too far in service of the creator. Keith will complete this task, and when the Forbidden One is reawakened he will die like all the rest of humanity. Let him make the rope with which to hang himself."

"So very human," Azrael replied coldly.

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With the soft churning of the locomotive humming in the background, Prince Seto stared at the sleeping form of Serenity. What was it about the delicate form of the girl that set him so at ease? Her red hair splayed out beneath her head. Her eyelids trembled ever so slightly every time the locomotive rocked around a corner. She slept beautifully.

Perhaps it was that he could protect her. When she was here, with him, he didn't need to concern himself with her well-being. He could see to it himself. When he was away from her… well, he owed her his life several times over. He had an obligation to keep the girl alive. More than that… he liked her. She was… quiet. Thoughtful. Intelligent.

He sighed, leaning back in the wall-hung train cot and continued watching the girl. This wasn't like him. He was decisive. It wasn't like him to dwell, or obsess, over anything. So what was it that this girl possessed? Maybe it was that she reminded him of Mokuba. So… innocent. So naïve. So perpetually happy. The girl was so much like his brother was. Maybe that was why he felt such a need to protect her. In that sense, Fallacian was as astute as ever. His failure to protect his brother had been his greatest failing in life. But protecting Serenity wouldn't bring his brother back.

Serenity rolled onto her back and stretched her limbs out as she gave a great yawn. Then, she curled up into a fetal position and whimpered slightly. Seto rose and took a blanket from the overhead rack. He laid it over the sleeping girl and paused. Stooping over her, he brushed the hair away from her face.

He would protect Serenity for Serenity. He would protect her not only because he owed it to her, but because she _deserved_ to be protected. The girl was no pushover; she had been trained at the famous Cobalt Academy. Still, she remained as delicate as a flower. She was like a tree in the wind, swaying where it needed, accepting the buffeting forces but always standing resolute. He would protect her because it was possible that he could care about her, and that was a rare thing indeed.

Rising to his feet, Seto exited the train. Damien was standing on the deck of the train, staring out at the passing scenery. They had long since passed the limitless expanses of the Kaiba plains. They were beginning to pass through the Segregos Mountains, into the single thin path that made them traversable. The terrain was grey and brown, lined on either side by boulders of increasing size. This pathway of the train had been carved from the mountainside.

Seto joined Damien against the rail, and the rogue shot him a look. "How is she?" he asked tentatively.

"It isn't much of an injury. I tended the wound and she's resting now. Where's Yugi?"

"Next train ahead. He's in the process of levelling up, so don't bother him. I'm surprised you showed up. I expected you to go back to Cobalt. King Aildren would be disappointed in you," Damien replied.

"Perhaps. More likely, though, I believe my father knew what his kingdom was coming to. I didn't just leave to save you dorks. I did it because I can do more to stop Azrael, and apparently Remiel, out here."

Damien shrugged. "She still has the card?"

"Yes."

"I'm going to pursue her," Damien stated flatly.

Seto turned and raised an eyebrow toward Damien. "What?"

"Serenity. She's not unattractive. She's kind, thoughtful. I'm going to pursue her. I'm giving you a heads up because you seem to harbour some feelings of your own for her," Damien explained. "Consider this friendly competition."

The prince blinked. "I…" He what? Didn't have feelings for her? He'd just admitted to himself that he did. But there were other obstacles. Perhaps he didn't see her that way; perhaps his attraction to her wasn't romantic. Yes, that was it. She reminded him of his younger brother. She would be like a sister to him. "You won't get any competition from me. I… I don't look at her that way."

Damien's hand came down in a firm pat on Seto's shoulder. "Sure you don't, prince, sure you don't. You can just admit that you already feel defeated by my devilish good looks and charm."

Despite himself, Seto chuckled at the comment. He debated his retort for a moment, but found he couldn't suppress the, "You wish you had this," that escaped his lips.

The rogue chuckled in turn and stepped over the extendable bridge to the next train. By now the terrain around them had morphed into sheer cliff walls on either side. They were almost at their objective. "Rouse her, will you?" He loved that he was ordering around a prince, "We're almost there."

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The station at Yugi's Pass was a curious piece of architecture. It was built around the train station that served as one of the town's primary sources of income. A small cluster of iron and lumber cabins composed the commercial sector of the town, selling supplies, weapons and cards to travellers that were forced to stop while the train refilled its supply of coal. That was the town's other source of revenue. Massive coalmines had been carved from the mountainsides that were mined almost exclusively by Rock Ogre Grottos (the best-equipped cheap monster able to carry the weights) and Jigen Bakudan (it could blow up. The implications were obvious). All around the central commercial section trolley cart tracks and exploratory cave sections composed an umbrella web of machinery. Workers always dotted the downward cone shaped pit, which levelled off at sea level, calling orders and organizing the duel monster miners.

The train screeched into the station, a simple covered platform without much character, and hissed to a stop. The group disembarked. "Alright, where to?" Yugi asked as the stepped out of the train and onto the platform.

Seto glanced left, then right. Finally satisfied that no one was listening in, he answered the question. "The shrine was found inside the mines. We're going to talk to the head miner, and he should be able to direct us to it."

They followed Seto for a brief while, until it became clear that he wasn't heading toward the mines. "Where are we going, prince?" Damien finally asked when he noted their destination was deeper within the commercial segment.

"Clothing store," Seto answered, as though it should be obvious. "I left my cape behind in Cobalt. I need a new one."

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After the brief, unnecessary side trip to get Seto his cape the foursome found their way to the main administrative complex of the mines. Nearly at the top of the cone, it was a small cave with a wooden wall and door blocking the entryway. Seto didn't even knock, instead barging through the door and into the small enclosure. The others followed.

The head miner didn't even raise his head. Writing furiously on some piece of paper on his desk, he simply grunted to inform them that he was aware of their presence and continued scribbling. A moment later he looked up at the gang and they got a good look at his face. He was dirty, but even through the grime his purple eyes and distinctively coiffed grey hair were unmistakable. The miner was Solomon Moto.

Yugi turned toward the corner of the chamber and tried to stifle his giggling. Serenity simply covered her face and tried to keep the sound of her laughter to a minimum. The distinguished miner had a mechanical arm made of clockwork. It was controlled through muscle movements on the shoulder, but it was clumsy and uncontrolled. As a result, the miner had a hard time dressing himself. He wore coveralls, but they were unzipped at the back, ending high enough to remain decent. He was filthy, from his trademarked brimless hat to the bottom of his 'footsie' coveralls. Nevertheless, the man maintained a semblance of dignity, acting as though he had no idea how preposterous he looked. He may not have.

"Well hello there, gentlemen, is there anything I can do to help you?"

"We're looking for the shrine, old man. You know where it is. You're going to tell us," Seto commanded. He found the man pathetic rather than amusing.

"Oh my. Harsh words coming from such a young boy, don't you think?"

Seto leaned forward toward the miner and fixed his eyes with a cold glare. "Do you know who I am?"

The old man scanned Seto up and down twice, and then finally his jaw dropped. "Oh… Why, you're Deiprelate Remiel, aren't you?"

"No," Seto answered curtly.

"Jophiel?"

"No."

"Chamuel?"

"No!"

"Raziel?"

"No!"

"Azrael?"

"Damnit, I'm Prince Seto!" Seto shouted.

With a crooked smile, the man nodded. "I know. I just wanted to hear _you_ say it."

Seto blinked at the midget. "What?"

"You've been banished. You shouldn't go around flaunting your identity, you know."

Again, Seto stood dumbfounded and blinked at the old man. So, banishment was his official punishment, was it? All that meant was that he was officially under his punishment until they could find and kill him. Even the Serendipity Islands were part of Kaiba, so failing a trip to Venyore there was no way he could comply with their wishes. "What are you going to do about it, old man?" Seto snapped.

"Well, I'm not going to do anything about it but I should think a prince would show more respect to his elders."

"I don't show respect to those beneath me," Seto replied coolly.

"Take it easy, prince," Damien interjected.

"Yeah, come on, he's just an old miner," Yugi replied, having regained his composure.

"He's wasting our time. If we spend all day here arguing with him, the blackguards will beat us to the shrine. Now, old man, the shrine. Where is it?" Seto hissed, turning back to the one-armed miner.

"Hmph. Say please," the miner insisted.

Seto narrowed his eyes, fixing the man with a corrosive glare. Finally, through tightly clenched teeth, he uttered the syllable. "Please."

"Now then, that wasn't so hard, was it? Well, let me see here, where is that map? Oh, I must've left it somewhere. Oh how foolish of me…" the miner trailed off as he began to scour the small room for any sign of his map of the mines.

Turning to his three companions, Seto gave an exasperated shrug.

"Did you have to be so rude?" Serenity hissed to the prince.

Seto blinked in shock at the small redhead. Finally, he replied with a grunt. "I did what was necessary. I don't have the patience to deal with self-important nobodies."

"This coming from a self-important _former_ somebody," Serenity replied levelly.

The Dragon Prince glared dangerously at the girl, and she backed down, realizing that it must still be a sensitive subject. "Sorry…" she muttered, bowing slightly to the enraged prince.

Seto relaxed slightly and gave a defeated sigh. "Forget it. You're probably right."

"Ah! Here it is!" the miner exclaimed, drawing a chart out from a pile of coal. "Oh, that's not good for it," he muttered as he dusted the map off, laying it out on the desk in front of them. He hmmed repeatedly as he scanned the map, finally settling on an area.

"Well?" Seto asked impatiently.

"There's a ketchup stain on this…" the miner muttered.

"Umm… Head Miner, sir? Did you find the shrine?" Yugi asked, running out of his own usually inexhaustible supply of patience. He'd found himself more and more irritated as the game transpired. For whatever reason, the VR system didn't recognize or incorporate his other self, and he found that he felt shockingly alone with him. He hadn't told Serenity, nor did he intend to. It… wasn't important.

"What? Oh, yes! That! I forgot you were still here."

The gang nearly fainted. "And…" Damien led, "The shrine is…"

"In cave four, nearly the ground level. Leftmost passage, so it shouldn't be hard to find. Now, if you don't mind, I have more important business to attend to. Where did I leave my lunch pail…"

Seto was eager to leave anyway. He nearly shoved the party out the door, striding past them and down the incline to the tunnel marked 'IV'. Brusquely, he strode through the narrow, dark corridors at such a pace the others almost had to jog to keep up with him. The prince didn't even seem to notice. He brand new blue cape billowed behind him as he strode down the corridors, never stumbling or striking anything despite the poor light of the sparsely scattered torches.

"Umm, prince?" Serenity called, breaking into a brief run, despite the fact that she was still limping, to catch up with the long-legged warrior, "How are we going to get the card? We don't have silver cards to use."

"I don't want the card," Seto answered dismissively, "All we have to do is make sure that Azrael can't get his hands on it. It's simple."

Even as he spoke the sentence they entered the chamber in question. It had been found as a natural cavern, and so it was larger in both height and width than the passage. A pedestal identical to the shrine in the desert stood in the centre of the room. So did two rough-looking warriors.

The first was tall, slightly more than six feet, and bulky. He wore black leather armour, modified with steel interlocking plates over most of the body. A simple black circular shield hung from his left arm, and his right held the pommel of a broadsword, pointed blade first on the rock below. In addition, a black pair of shades obscured his eyes. Odd, given the darkness of the room. Beside him, in stark contrast to the taller of the two was a small, pale sorcerer with grey-black hair. He wore only simple grey robes, but his hollow eyes glowed with a dark fire.

"And here I thought that it was a sulphur leak that I smelled," Seto commented.

"Prince Seto and company. I was wondering when you half-baked losers would show up. You kept me waiting! You travel slow," the taller of the two warriors sneered.

"And you are?" Damien asked coolly as he entered behind Seto.

"Keith. My associate here is called Bonz. You've got some rich enemies. That's where we come in. I hope you've updated your will recently."

Seto rolled his eyes and drew his sword. "Talk is cheap," he grunted and strode towards his antagonist. The room erupted into a flurry of action. Keith charged to meet Seto, now joined by Damien, whose rapier was in hand. Serenity ducked to the side and conjured Kagemusha as quickly as possible. Slipping back into the corridor, Yugi readied his innate fireball ability he'd picked up from his level up. A moment later Bonz's Darkness Approaches magic card activated, plunging the room into supernatural darkness.

Damien instinctively ducked. Crouching on the ground he closed his eyes (they were useless anyway) and used his ears to scan the room. Seto would handle Keith, he knew, and so he focussed on finding Bonz. The boy was small, and likely standing still now that he had darkened the room. He tried to hear the sorcerer's breathing, but found himself nearly deafened by the ringing of blades. Renewing his focus, he tried to apply all of his senses to the chamber around him. A faint, foul odour caught his nostrils on the almost non-existent air currents of the chamber. So, he would smell him out.

Darkness had fallen only an instant before Seto had hit Keith. He remembered the scene exactly, and his parry was perfect. They struck with incredible force, but the bulkier warrior didn't bend. Seto drove his blade forward against Keith's broadsword, but he was retreating even as he did. Sidestepping as silently as possible, Seto charged in from the side. In a massive overhead arc he swung his royal blade, but Keith's block was waiting for it. He came in again, low in a cross slash, but again Keith was ahead of him. Attack after attack, strategy after strategy, the muscular assassin defeated the attacks of the prince. He withdrew, but Keith pursued. Each step brought him closer to the wall, and Seto finally realized that Keith could see.

Serenity had no idea where Kagemusha was anymore, and she didn't dare to summon any other monster. Both her M. Warrior and her Kurama had only a single summon left each, and she certainly wouldn't waste them on a battle where they wouldn't be able to find their enemies. She knelt down and wrapped her arms around her knees. What good was she to anyone? She'd been limping behind Seto most of the way here, and now she wasn't helping when a battle did arise. Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder. It was Yugi.

"Serenity. How are you?" Yugi whispered, though it was unlikely any others would hear him over the sound of blades ringing.

"I… I'm not doing anyone any good," she answered honestly. "Is there anything you can do about this stupid darkness?"

"I'd love to, but I don't have a De-Spell, only a Remove Trap. It should wear off soon, though. I think."

In fact, it wore off sooner than he'd reckoned. Following the obnoxious scent of a sorcerer who seriously needed a shower, Damien found his target. He snatched him by the neck, although he couldn't see the punk, and held him at arms length to the wall. "Dispel the darkness, now!" he hissed through clenched teeth.

Frantically, Bonz complied. With a single, though elaborate, hand gesture, the darkness was gone. It happened at an odd moment. Kagemusha had just stumbled into the pedestal, still a good distance away from any ongoing combat. Seto, on the other hand, was nearly cornered by Keith. The heavy broadsword shot forward and Seto, finally able to see, ducked beneath the shot. Keith's blade drove into the wall, getting stuck a good way through. Seto rose in an instant, spinning so that he was behind the bulky warrior. The blade was stuck. He had him!

Somehow, muscles bulging as he heaved, Keith drew the sword from the wall. Seto never saw the blow coming. Spinning with his momentum, Keith slashed hard against Seto's chest. The prince barely gave a yelp as he fell backward. He hit the ground hard, but threw himself into a roll as soon as he touched down. Ending on his knees, he clutched his chest with one hand and his sword with the other. His armour had held, and he was alive because of it. But he had no time to set himself; Keith struck him with all the force he could muster.

Seto blocked, driving back against the strike to buy the time to find his feet. He retreated, and then came on, slashing in from below. Keith blocked with his shield and swung in from above, but Seto was faster. He blocked the blade and hooked the spur around the shield at the same time. In a quick twist he forced Keith to drop the shield, or lose his fingers. Angrily, Keith came in from the side and Seto managed a mangled block, taking a glancing blow in the arm. He retreated from the fray for an instant, and it proved an instant too long.

Bonz had wrenched himself from a distracted Damien's grasp enough to snatch a card from his deck box. With fire in his dark eyes, he smirked at Damien's averted face. He activated the card, Multiply, and a moment later there was not one Keith, but three. Damien didn't miss that. Furiously, he skewered Bonz and ran to join the fray. He met Kagemusha on the way, the two hoping to level the playing field.

With his single sword working furiously, Seto miraculously held the three Keiths at bay. He was surrounded; driving the blades away was proving an increasingly difficult task. He didn't need to sustain it for long, however, and help arrived a few moments later. Kagemusha leapt aggressively at the Keith to his left and, although it was obvious the monster would prove the weaker, put him on his heels in a hurry. Ever elegant in his movements, Damien slipped between Seto and one of the Keiths, beating him off with aggressive slashes with his much thinner blade.

Without the advantage of magical sight, Keith was scarcely a match for Seto. The prince drove in fast on the now isolated original and hit him with a flurry of strikes, batting his blade high and then slashing across his chest. The blow struck with a good deal of force, but failed to breach his plated armour. With a grunt of pain the larger warrior staggered away from the leaner prince. His massive broadsword chopped at Seto, but the prince was always a step ahead. Darting around his blade, blocking it when necessary, he nicked away at his arms and breaches in the plates. Suddenly, functioning more on instinct than conscious thought, he found his blade darting behind him and heard it connect with steel. Kagemusha was down, that much was obvious, and he now had twice the Keith to worry about.

Gauging the fresh Keith as the most dangerous warrior, he spun on him, sliding a leg out to sweep the injured Keith as he ducked below the arc of the new foe's blade. Then he was up again, driving the warrior's blade upward and coming in jabbing, then slashing, at the combatant's exposed chest. The blade rang across the metal and came in to block a powerful overhead blow that knocked him to the knee. Again, instinct saved him as he threw himself into a sidelong roll, avoiding the attack of the second Keith. The two couldn't regain their composure fast enough, and Seto exploited the momentary weakness. Leaping, he planted his feet firmly on the fresh Keith's back, using it as a ramp. The warrior groaned as he pitched forward, and Seto made sure to kick off his head as he entered a full leap. Fortunately, the roof was high enough and he came near the second Keith. The move was perfect, he kicked his chest and spun, downing the injured Keith and, spinning from the force of the kick, bringing his blade in a cross-arc to decapitate the second. He dropped to a knee and raised his blade, parallel to his eyes, anticipating the now rising Keith's counterattack. It didn't come.

Instead, the two began to double team Damien. The rogue was sorely pressed, unable to form a solid block for fear of losing his weapon but unable to dodge two simultaneous offensives. Damien blocked forward, but Keith forced him into a lock, sliding his broadsword over the thin surface of Damien's rapier. He tried desperately to hold and move, but it was impossible. The strike from behind ran along his back, nearly diving between his ribs and causing a deep gash. With a cry of agony, Damien fell to the floor. Keith raised his blade to strike.

Seto was Damien's salvation. He darted between the two and spun, his blade levelling at his shoulder level and driving both of the assailant's back. Then, dropping to a knee in the hard won moment, he grabbed Damien by the back of his shirt and heaved him to Yugi in the door to the chamber.

Serenity watched intently, still awaiting her opportunity to summon again. The prince was magnificent. His blade swung left and right, swatting aside the broadswords of his assailants with such ease it hardly seemed he was trying. Never in one place for more than a moment, he footwork became more of a dance than a battle. He darted left and struck, receiving a parry, then swirled right and struck again, receiving a hard-managed block. From above, his curved blade would strike in fast and hard. Twin Keiths batted his blade aside at every turn but they couldn't seem to hit him.

With a roar, Seto lunged at one of his foes with reckless abandon. He drove his blade down and then fluidly reversed it. He swung back up, goring the warrior's face, and spun to face his other foe. But the two combatants began to work in unison. His slash was blocked, and then a dual attack came in from either side. The curved blade swung in a low arc, swatting the blades aside, but the two foes weren't done. In unison, they shot out a foot into Seto's shins, sending him plummeting to the floor. Never dazed, Seto rolled in midair and landed on his back just in time to draw his blade up into a double block on the two blades of his foes. One maintained the pressure while the other shot for his head, but Seto deftly rolled away. The two pressed, and he barely managed to regain his feet. His sword-work was spectacular, but even that couldn't hold the Keiths off once they had found their stride.

Perhaps it was because of the instinctive state he was in or the heat of battle that had prevented him from noticing thus far, but he began to detect a foul odour in the room. He stole a moment to glance to where Keith had struck the wall and realized that he had gone through the rock wall. Was it possible that he had struck a gas pocket? He'd been fortunate in that no sparks had been produced between their blades thus far, if his hypothesis was correct. Quickly, he assumed a defensive stance.

"Yugi, there's something I need you to do for me," he called softly, backing against the wall.

"What is it?" the sorcerer called. He'd been applying his Red Medicine to the fallen Damien and had restored him enough to walk, if not fight.

"Take Serenity and Damien and go as far down that hallway as you can. I'll hold these two delinquents. Then, once you've gone straight as far as you can, fire a fireball back down this tunnel."

"Prince?"

"Do it."

The Keiths blinked at Seto, and closed with a smirk. They'd given him his moment, now it was time to go. As he fell into a defensive haze again, Seto couldn't help but grin. It seemed he was the only one who knew what was coming. With a roar, he heard the fireball. As it hit the room, he sneered at the two Keiths, who had finally cornered him.

"Game over."

A/N: I love the double-talk in the last line. Poor Seto, he really has no idea. I hate to leave you with a cliffhanger, but it was already five thousand words and I was tired. And the PS2 was calling. In any case, please leave a review on the way out. Seriously, it takes like thirty seconds. Please? puppy dog eyes


	11. Diverging Destinies

A/N: This chapter will not be what you expected. I don't know what you expected, but this isn't it. However, I do like it. Anywho, much thanks to those of you who reviewed. Especially those of you who saw fit to taken fifteen minutes to write me a short story. I love them! At long last, reviewer responses for chapters 8-10 are up (or will be, once the page refreshes --) on my profile page! To be honest, this chapter would've been up earlier but a freak thunderstorm caused my PS2 to become sentient, and it _forced_ me to play video games for the last few days, so I couldn't edit. Again, not my fault.

**Disclaimer**: Don't tell anyone, but I have a secret ninja attack force being trained to coerce Kazuki Takahashi into giving me the rights to Yu-Gi-Oh! Until they do, I don't own it.

**Chapter Eleven: Diverging Destinies**

With a great roar the entire room burst into flames. Seto was prepared. A single motion brought the magic card he'd had on the ready before him. The room was already alight. He bellowed the name of the card. "Ring of Defence!" The ring formed in front of him, its wild spinning driving off the hungry flames. Though he couldn't see a thing outside of the raging inferno, he heard the cries of his foes. Backed against the wall, he offered a silent prayer to whoever may have been listening that the ring held.

Great beads of sweat formed, not only from the fire, and Seto relaxed against the stone. Suddenly, a great crashing noise drew his attention, almost the same moment as the fire died. Smoke filled the room and sight was impossible, desperately he searched for the entrance of the corridor. He needed air badly; the room had none left. Finally, he found the area where the entrance had been. In its place was a pile of stone. He pressed his hand against it and swore. The explosion had collapsed his way out.

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"Prince… Seto…" Serenity muttered as they watched the ceiling of the tunnel collapse almost halfway through. More than ten metres of tunnel had collapsed, the supports scorched away by the fire of the explosion. Seto's plan had achieved its goal, but how much was sacrificed for it?

"The prince… sacrificed himself? No, he must have had a plan…" Damien muttered incredulously.

"How could he… he knew that was going to happen. We could have won! How could he throw his life away so foolishly?" Yugi blurted.

Serenity didn't stay to listen to any of it. Instead, she rushed ahead and grabbed one of the stones. She lacked any significant physical strength, but she heaved the stone away. This was going to take too long, she realized. Immediately she called forth Kagemusha to aid her. It didn't take the warrior long to catch on. Together, they began to scratch away at the massive pile of stone. It was like using fingernails to carve a sculpture. Almost no progress was made, but Serenity raged on. She had been useless in battle. But if there was any chance she could save the prince, she would do it. He may have thought that he owed her, but she owed him just as much. Rock after rock she heaved, but he hands were quickly wearing down and she was running out of energy. It was an exercise in futility. She stopped when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"He's gone, Serenity. It kills us as much as it kills you, but there's nothing we can do about it now. At least we can take some solace in that the card is gone for sure, now," Damien offered, placing his hands on her shoulders and gently kneading her tense muscles.

"Damien's right, Serenity," Yugi agreed, "There's nothing we can do for him now."

"But…" Serenity whined. She nearly collapsed against the stone pile, placing her hands on the stone and reaching for who she knew was somewhere beyond, or underneath.

"We should go. There's a place I know in the Duchy of Solitage that can grant us refuge, especially from Azrael. I doubt he'll be dissuaded from his chosen course of action, but we've taken away a powerful ally." Damien pulled her closer and wrapped his arms around her the same way he had when Tristan had died. She was too stunned to even notice the gesture.

"…alright," she agreed finally. They would leave Seto behind, in his cairn in the mountain.

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Seto found himself lying on his back on the cooling stone of the natural cavern. It was effective not only for rest, but it brought him below the smoke that had filled most of the room. He let his mind wander, not caring where it led him. It seemed that time was infinite now. His hands were bloodied and raw from trying to remove the stones, but the exertion had been fruitless. He was trapped.

How much his life had changed over the last few days! His father had died, he was exiled from his country, and the Deiprelate was planning the downfall of humanity. And now, having stopped their plans, he would die alone of the floor of some godforsaken cave. Suddenly, that thought struck him. He would not die alone.

Tentatively, he drew his brother's silver Blue-Eyes White Dragon card from his deck box. He let his fingers explore the smooth card's texture, his eyes dwelt on the barely illuminated image. A soft sigh escaped his lips. Nobody would find his body. He would have no one to refine his soul, and no monster to bind his soul to. Eventually, he would become a malevolent spirit to torment the world. A plague upon his own country. He could, of course, order his brother to kill him. The act would bind them together forever, but somehow the thought disquieted him. It wasn't right. He would leave his brother as he was. No one, not even him, would despoil his brother's purity.

He let out another soft sigh. At least he had fulfilled his obligation to that girl. By now, she was likely safe far from there. Damien would take them to a safe house from the church to rest and recover. Perhaps Damien would succeed in his advances on the girl and the two would be wed. They could return to Venyore. How he longed to see Venyore one last time! To stand on its beaches and bask in the beauty of its infinite expanses! But that would not happen.

Without realizing it, he willed the dragon into being. It formed within the cave, though cramped, and immediately cast about to find its foes. Finding none, it turned a quizzical glanced back to Seto.

"No, Mokuba," Seto chided with a chuckle, "No monsters today. I wanted to see you. One last time. Father would be so proud of you, if he could see you. He never did realize that you'd become so majestic a monster." The Blue-Eyes set its head in Seto's lap and he sat up, idly stroking the smooth top of its head. "Not even your white lightning will bail me out this time, though. If you tried to use it on that blockage you'd probably fry me. I'm sorry, Mokuba. I don't know how long you'll lie in the cavern, but I'm sure that you deserve better. It seems I've failed you one last time."

The dragon snorted a blast of dragon breath in Seto's face as a reply.

"No, I am _not_ wrong. I shouldn't have dragged you into this. I should have entrusted you to the Empress of Venyore while I had the chance. Then you wouldn't be in this mess."

Pressing its nose into Seto's chest, the dragon's eyes turned soft and mellow. Blue met blue as Seto stared into his brother's eyes.

"I'm glad you're here with me. I wouldn't want to die alone," Seto admitted. Who was going to hear him, besides his brother?

The dragon closed its massive eyes and Seto leaned against it, relaxing gently into its hard, cool scales. It could always be worse, he supposed. He let himself drift into sleep, expecting never to awaken. When he did, several hours later, he was on his back on the floor. Mokuba had long since vanished when the summon wore off, and his body ached from sleeping on the hard stone. He pulled himself to his knees and scanned the room groggily. There was less smoke than before.

That could mean only one thing. The smoke was escaping. Quickly, he tore off a section of his wonderful new cape and wrapped it around his mouth. He took a moment to find the charred body of the original Keith. Swiping his sunglasses (he had assumed they were enchanted when he saw them, and the battle had confirmed it), he tucked them away into a belt pouch. Then, rising to his feet, he began to feel along the wall of the cavern. It was obvious where the draft would be. He found the small hole that Keith had punched in the wall with his broadsword. It was not so small anymore. The blast had blown out most of the hole, and it seemed large enough to squeeze through.

Feet first, Seto pressed through the tight hole. His armour scraped along the stone, but his feet found a hold and he slid through. With his feet placed on either side of the small crack the gasses had been in, he found that it was narrow and thin, not more than half a metre deep and two metres long. Below, it stretched infinitely, disappearing into untold darkness. Above, faintly, dusk light shone through a gap. He climbed.

His hands were raw from clawing at the rock pile barring his exit, but he winced through the pain and dragged his body from ledge to ledge. The climb was narrow and treacherous, but he had hope for life, and it seemed a meagre obstacle. Minute after minute he climbed. The pain was excruciating, but with hope restored Seto was unstoppable. Finally he assailed the last ledge, drawing himself out of the crevice and onto a mountainside not far from Yugi's Pass.

"You kept me waiting, Dragon Prince. Not like you to delay while there's still a task at hand," a voice declared from behind him. Seto didn't even need to turn. It was a voice he was unlikely to forget.

"Raziel. So, Remiel has you running errands for him now, too?"

"Oh, no," Raziel refuted coldly. "I'm here because I so wanted to be here. I always told you that if you were so reckless eventually it would cost you. I wanted to be here when it did."

"Well, your timing's off. I made it out, alive," Seto informed him.

Raziel gave a toothy grin, but Seto still had his back to the prelate. "I know, that's what's so delicious. You gambled with your own life. You lost others'. When that tunnel collapsed, it collapsed back further than you thought. It crushed the sorcerer, the girl and the rogue. They're dead."

Seto spun and glared at the prelate. "You're lying."

"It isn't prudent to lie, prince. Or, not-prince, as it were. In another hour that politician, Bakura, will be crowned. When he is, whatever claim you had to the throne will be gone. Your friends are dead, your position is gone, your father is slain. Who do you still have to fail?" Raziel asked evenly. "Oh, yes. The old man that Azrael sent to Sandalphon. He'll die soon because of you, too."

"Shut up, Raziel," Seto spat. He was trembling, furious. It was impossible! He'd orchestrated the move to save those three. He'd killed them. Once again, he'd failed someone who'd been counting on him. Once again, he'd failed to protect those he cared about.

"Control your anger, Dragon Prince. You have no one to blame but yourself. And what did you gain in exchange for their lives?"

"Your little scheme is finished," Seto replied defiantly. "The pedestal was destroyed. You cannot complete the Forbidden One, and so you cannot summon him."

"A valid point. Or would be. But, unfortunately, Sachiel beat you here. He had the card as you were being crowned, and returned to Cobalt on the very same train you left Cobalt in. Your friends died in vain."

Seto snapped. His blade was in his hand, and he lunged toward the yellow-robed form of the prelate. For a brief instant he hung suspended in air, and the next he struck the prelate. Instead of drawing a grunt and an injury, he was rewarded with a blinding white flash as the prelate disappeared into nothingness. He fell to his knees from the fall, and dropped his sword at his side.

As his head fell back, slack, he looked up at the night sky. He realized that it looked emptier tonight, and he knew it was because the stars of those he had come to befriend were gone. From somewhere within his soul he let loose a bellow of bestial rage, and then collapsed into the oblivion of sleep.

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From her seat next to the roaring fire, Serenity stared idly into its leaping flames. She didn't know why his death had affected her so much. After all, he didn't actually exist. Therefore, how could he die? His death, in truth, made no difference in the larger scheme of things. Still, it left her feeling hollow inside. Tristan's 'death' had been one thing. It only meant he was ejected from the game, and she would see him again (although she wasn't sure she wanted to) at its completion. But Prince Seto… was truly gone.

Yugi seemed equally detached. If his partner had been there, he would have told him that it wasn't his fault, and that it had been Seto's choice. As things stood, Yugi couldn't help but blame himself for the death of the warrior. Seto had ordered him to use the fireball, but if he had only been smart enough to catch onto his plan he would have refused. At the very least, after all he had done for them, they owed it to Seto to retrieve his body and see to it that his soul was refined. But they had left him.

"Come on," Damien tried, hoping to pull his two companions out of their self-instituted isolation. "We're acting pretty glum for three people who just stopped a plot to destroy the world."

"The cost was too great," Serenity replied, not taking her eyes off of the fire.

"Too great? Too great! It was one man's life in exchange for thousands. Even Seto would agree the cost was not great at all!"

"I think he already made that argument, even if it was without words," Yugi answered.

"Fair enough," Damien answered, gnawing on a piece of meat in his hand. They had stocked preserves of food while in Cobalt that would last them long past their trip to the Duchy of Solitage. Silence ensued for almost an hour before finally something occurred to their camp.

"Well, well. If it isn't little Yugi! We hadn't expected to see you here. To be honest, I didn't think you'd even get invited!" The declaration came from a familiar grating voice.

"Weevil," Yugi called inquisitively into the darkness outside their camp from which the voice had come, "What are _you_ doing out here? It's the middle of nowhere."

Stepping into the light of their campfire, both Weevil and his attached-at-the-hip companion Rex Raptor were garbed in their normal attire of choice. In addition, Weevil carried a simple iron rod, and Rex wore basic chain mail. Over his back, Rex wore a round shield and some variety of pole weapon, with a wicked looking head on it.

"We're on our way to Yugi's Pass," Weevil replied, stressing the name 'Yugi' as he sneered at the rainbow haired youth. "We were just thinking of turning in for the night when we spotted your little campfire here. Who'd have thought it was little Yugi and friends?"

"Yeah. We certainly hadn't expected to run into _you_ losers out here. But, now that we have, want to split a camp?" Rex asked.

"Sure!" Yugi chirped, inviting the two consistent troublemakers into the circle around the fire. Serenity and Damien exchanged a look, but they couldn't come up with a sound argument against the two.

Both of the duellists smirked as they were invited into the fold. They took their seats and exchanged a glance of their own. So far, so good.

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"Prince Seto is no longer a concern of ours. The rest of the group will be much more vulnerable now," Raziel informed Azrael in the halls of the Holy Church in Cobalt.

"You killed him?" Azrael asked incredulously.

"No. How do you think I got back here so quickly?"

"He killed you?" Azrael asked, even more incredulously.

"Don't say that like it matters," Raziel shot back, leaning against the wall and staring at the black-haired prelate. "It was the fastest conveyance possible. In truth, he did me a favour."

"So then, oh all-knowing Raziel," Azrael sneered, "How is he no longer a concern of ours?"

"He's convinced they are dead."

This time, a genuine smile crept across Azrael's face. How delicious, the prince thought his beloved friends were dead. What despair that wretch would know! "How ever did you manage that?"

Raziel smiled back. "I told him. Raziel knows all."

"Hmm. Even if Keith did fail, this is so much better than even his death. I do love to watch them suffer. And what of the card? Did Sachiel secure it?"

"Of course," Raziel replied. "He was gone long before they ever reached the city. Both arms are in our possession, and soon the missing leg will be recovered. Remiel's lack of regard for keeping to personnel within the church disturbs me as much as it does you, but the infidels have their uses."

"And what of the last two shrines? Have we located them yet?" Azrael pressed, eager for news of their impending triumph.

"No," Raziel admitted. "Our searches have remained fruitless thus far. However, we are assured that it is not within any of the fiefs. Therefore, logically, they are somewhere in the untamed lands."

Azrael grunted. "That is unfortunate. It will take quite some time to scour the untamed lands for those shrines. Well, what is Seto's objective?"

"He knows that Sachiel recovered the card. However, for the moment, I have sent him to the one place he can do the least damage," the bald prelate explained.

"And that is?" Azrael led.

"Sandalphon."

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Seto's body ached as though he had been eaten by an ornery Tri-Horned Dragon, and then spat out and trampled. Twice now had he slept atop nothing but the hard, uneven rocks of the Segregos Mountains. Every muscle in his body raged in protest as he rose to his feet, but he silenced them by force of will. The sun's rays streaked in from over the ocean to the east, rising from atop the Serendipity Islands to cruise over the Kaiba plains and meet him on his mountaintop.

He stared for a long while at the sun, allowing him a few moments to sort out his emotions. The first that struck him was unbelievable despair. His failure to his friends had been great, had cost them their very lives. It was another object on a long list of failures, and together they amounted to the deaths of nearly everyone he'd cared about. He pushed his despair aside. There was no time for it. The second emotion that struck him was anger. Raziel, in addition to Azrael and Remiel (and apparently Sachiel), had turned against him. They persisted in their path of wanton destruction, seeking the ultimate downfall of humanity for a reason he could only speculate at. He pushed his anger aside too. It only served to cloud his judgement.

Finally, he found the emotion he'd been searching for. Buried beneath his despair and anger remained the glimmer of hope he held for Sagaelen. He pulled his eyes to the north, toward the holy capital Sandalphon. The sage had been imprisoned because of his relationship to the prince, and Seto had no intention of letting him rot.

Silently, Seto lamented that he had neither the time, nor truly the ability, to shed tears for his fallen friends. They seemed to have deserved that much, even Damien. The plan of the prelates concerned them as dearly as it did him, but nevertheless he knew that few others would have pressed forward so courageously.

"For you, then. Damien, who stood defiant against the wrath of Azrael. Yugi, who bore the name of the first deiprelate with pride and honoured it. Serenity, the delicate girl who saved a soldier prince. Donec omni pereo," Seto declared. He was hardly poetic, although art had been taught to him since infancy. It seemed too little to mutter only those few words in memory of those who had fallen for him, but it was all he could spare. Sandalphon was calling.

He pulled his brother's card from his deck box again, and stared at its familiar image. In the six years that had passed since his brother's death, he'd summoned him twice prior to the last two days. In the last two days, he'd summoned him three times, and now he needed to summon him a fourth. He hated putting his brother through this, but unfortunately he had little other choice. Calling forth the beautiful serpentine monster, he mounted it and leaned in next to his brother's head.

"North, to Sandalphon. Hurry," he urged the beast. And then they were off.

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Yugi yawned and stretched as he finally came awake. The sun was partway through its early morning climb to the sky above, fully above the horizon but not much higher than that. Before him, the fire had smouldered down to nothing but glowing embers letting off soft silken streams of smoke. The boy wrapped his arms around his legs and sighed. He was struck once again by how lonely he felt. No familiar voice echoed in his head. No presence lurked in the back of his mind. He was alone, and he was beginning to want out of Kaiba's game.

But he didn't want to feel sorry for himself. After all, he was here of his own volition getting paid to play a video game. Both he and Serenity were now level two (Serenity had picked up an ability called Double Summon on her level up following the cave-in in Yugi's Pass) and they were beginning to get into the swing of the game. They had just lost their biggest protector, but they were becoming more confident in their own abilities.

He spared a grin for Serenity as he glanced at her sleeping not far to the side, and another for Damien who had crept as close as possible to her during the night. Just out of arm's length of the girl, it wasn't hard to tell what he had in mind. Yugi chuckled slightly. Kaiba was nothing if not thorough, especially in the wants of his character designs. Drawing his gaze to the other side of the fire, Yugi quickly noticed that both Rex and Weevil were gone.

"Didn't even say goodbye," Yugi muttered to himself. To him, they were two more people who chose to see him as a rival instead of a friend. He had enough rivals. He could always use more friends.

Suddenly, Serenity stirred. She quietly pulled herself from her bedroll and to her knees. With one hand she brushed dust and dirt from her outfit as she fixed her hair with the other. They all needed a bath, but for Serenity it was unbearable. This would be her fifth day since she'd bathed. She licked her lips and pulled her water canteen from her pack, downing a swig of the water and then rinsing her mouth in an attempt to cure her morning breath.

"Morning, Yugi," Serenity murmured as her hair gradually fell back into place. She gave an enormous stretch and rose to her feet, taking a few steps around to try and get blood running through her body. With a slight smirk, she glanced at where Damien was sleeping. "Aw. He must've been cold. Still, it was fortunate for me I didn't decide to sleep in or I might've woken up with a bed partner. Did Weevil and Rex go already?" she asked when she had finished surveying the campsite.

"It looks that way," Yugi answered.

Serenity nodded her acknowledgement, stretching broadly and placing her hands on her hips. Suddenly, a wave of suspicion struck Serenity and she pulled her deck box from her waist and opened it, hoping to assuage her paranoid fears. Instead, she confirmed them. "Yugi, the card is gone."

A/N: The use of latin in this chapter (Donec omni pereo means Until everything perishes, although I'm certain the grammar is atrocious) is something I debated over, but I think Kaiba just might see fit to add the dead language to his game for dimension. On top of that, Prince Seto is incredible interesting to write for. He really is half-prince, half-Seto. This chapter, you got to see more prince than Seto, and I'm not quite sure how it turned out. Why not review and tell me?


	12. Royal Vanguard

A/N: Right. So, about this chapter… By my figuring, Prince Seto is around level fifteen in the game (with twenty being what would be considered extremely high level). The whole concept of the level ups for the warrior class is that it increases strength and speed. I bring this up to explain this: expect Seto to do things that are physically impossible. He gets pretty close in this one, and I expect aspects of the fights to be more impossible in coming chapters. It's just… too much fun not to exploit. Many thanks to all who reviewed! They were awesome, and actually gave me quite a few ideas. For those who reviewed, I did post new reviewer responses. So read!

**Disclaimer**: Curse you counter-ninja ninjas! Still no progress on the whole owning Yu-Gi-Oh! front. Meaning… I don't.

**Chapter Twelve: Royal Vanguard**

"Which card?" Yugi blinked, responding groggily to Serenity's mortified expression.

"Which one do you think?" Serenity snapped, "The leg! It's gone!"

Damien stirred, running a hand through his hair as he slipped from his dreams. "What are you yelling about?" he muttered as he sat up in his bedroll.

"Weevil and Rex stole the Left Leg of the Forbidden one while I was sleeping!" Serenity shot, pacing frantically around the smouldering embers of the fire.

"Serenity, you don't know that," Yugi replied, although he had a hard time imagining what else could happen to the valuable object.

"Then what happened, Yugi? Oh, this is terrible! Seto entrusted me with that card and now I lost it… I'm going to be responsible for the death of humanity," Serenity concluded tragically. She ran a hand through her hair and glanced about, hoping to find that it had simply fallen from her box.

"Aren't you forgetting that we eliminated that other card? Without all of the pieces, they can't put him together, so that card is useless to them. There's nothing to worry about," Damien assured them, yawning and lying back in his bedroll.

Serenity nodded. He was right, of course. Seto had sacrificed himself to see to it that they failed, and even if she had given up the card it was no longer an issue of concern. Sitting atop her bedroll and wrapping her arms around her knees, she breathed deeply and tried to relax her sudden tension.

"What if there is more than one of each piece?" Serenity speculated suddenly.

"There isn't," the rogue answered.

Again, the redhead nodded. Still, she couldn't calm the warning in her stomach. "What if they retrieved the card before we got to the shrine? If the first shrine was any indication, there would be no way for us to know," she blurted, recalling that the pedestal in the first shrine had been identical before and after the retrieval of the card.

Damien glared at her, fast becoming annoyed. It was earlier, and he was no morning person. But more than that, the suggestion angered him because he realized that it could be correct. "So, what would you recommend? You do have a point, but it would seem that there's very little we can do about it, so why worry?"

Serenity blinked. Damien didn't seem his usual, cocky self. "So, we just leave it to chance, then?"

"Not chance," Damien answered as he rolled over and pulled his blanket over him. "Fate."

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Of all the places in all the world, no place was more a living irony than Sandalphon. The city was a sight to behold. The largest in population, nearly three thousand people inhabited it. Tall spires and beautiful palaces were neatly tucked into a small dip in the edge of the Terminus Mountains, protecting the holy capital on three sides. The fourth was marked by the ivory towers of Sandalphon, massive obelisks of white stone coated in precious ivory, and gilded in incredible designs made of precious gold. Between the two towers, a magic barrier could be erected at a moment's notice.

The city itself was perpetually covered in a thin layer of snow that fell commonly as far north as the city was. Year round, Sandalphon retained slightly below freezing temperatures, but the city was without seasons, and temperatures were never much more than five below. Inside the outer barriers of the city, it was as beautiful as the spires that marked its entrance. White and gold structures lined the streets, incredible buildings of inestimable value. The town was continually awash in the melodic sounds of hymns to the creator, echoing from the countless churches that composed so much of the city. Almost no one spoke within the city, and when they did they did so in soft, reverent tones. Holiness seemed to emanate from the very cobblestone streets, and especially from the great Palace of the Deiprelate in the heart of the bustling settlement.

It was on those cobblestone streets that Seto found himself, his cape wrapped tightly around him and Keith's sunglasses obscuring his face. The glasses changed his perspective of the world to a beautifully simple yet intricate silver on black silhouette of the forms around him. He could see every person, every structure and their features, but he couldn't make out colour or texture. It was a blindness he savoured; he had seen the false beauty of Sandalphon before, even marvelled in it. At the time he'd been oblivious that the massive amounts of gold and ivory had been paid for by those precious donations the church were given to help the poor and suffering, or that the hymns sung were hypocritical lies.

"You," he grunted to a passing priest, garbed in the simple yellow robes most priests of the holy church chose to wear. "I'm here to prosecute a heretic who has been imprisoned in this city. Can you direct me to where he is being held?"

The priest nodded, and turned toward the great palace. "Heretics are held within the Palace of the Deiprelate. May the creator guide your steps," he murmured as he turned and continued his graceful strides into the streets.

Seto nodded and walked in the direction of the palace. Reaching a gloved hand from within the confines of his tightly wrapped cape (gloves had been a necessary purchase upon his arrival in the city. Combat would likely be inevitable and barehanded combat in the cold was a bad idea) he allowed a few snowflakes to drift into his palm. Their silhouetted form on his hand melted slowly away, and he removed his sunglasses in a single motion. He caught a few more snowflakes and allowed himself to drift into recollection for a moment.

_It was snowing, lightly, on the balcony in Sandalphon. Seto, age eight, stood on the balcony overlooking the majestic city. The early evening breeze brought the sound of the hymns to him, and he sung along softly to the praise of the creator. His mother joined him shortly thereafter, a slender woman with long brown hair. She smiled at her older son and joined in singing the hymns softly. Her lithe hand rested on his shoulder, and she smiled warmly at him._

_"Seto?" she called softly, gaining the young boy's attention. "You should come in. You'll catch your death of a cold out here."_

_"Not yet, mama," Seto implored, turning out to look upon the city. "Wait until the moon rises. Remember what Raphael said? 'There's nothing more beautiful than a moon rise over Sandalphon'. I wanna see what he was talking about."_

_His mother smiled warmly to him, and nodded her agreement. The thin robe she wore was almost useless in keeping the cold out, but she couldn't help but cave to the request from her son. He seemed so much older than eight, possessing a sort of poetic fascination with the world. Squatting beside her son, the woman wrapped her arms around him and sung along with the hymns. Together, they watched the moon rise._

Seto snapped out of his reveries and replaced his sunglasses on his face. He decided to end the memory there, suppressing the adjoined memory that followed the moment. Though it never seemed that he did, he had no time now more than ever for idle recollection. His purpose and determination flowed back in his bloodstream again as he wilfully forgot his mother. With long purposeful strides, he returned to the task at hand. As recollection served him at the moment, he let his mind drift (though he continued walking) to his memories of the Palace of the Deiprelate. It was probable that the prison would be in the basement, so it fell that he needed to find the most covert entrance to the massive complex. Somewhere in the back of his mind he remembered a lightly guarded side entrance to the service passages of the palace. Quickly, that became his objective.

Unnoticed, the prince slipped into the less-travelled side streets of the city. With his objective clear in mind he navigated the underbelly of the city to find his way to the door. Silently, he came upon his objective. He leaned against the wall of one of the buildings, pressed in a narrow alleyway, and surveyed the door. Six holy guards stood, in two identical three-man lines, on either side of the access door. When conversation was required, the mute eunuchs communicated through a serious of signs (the lack of words in the language greatly limited the topics of their discussion) that each of them understood as well as any spoken language.

Six eunuchs would hardly be a challenge. They wore simple leather banded armour and carried large, heavy-tipped spears. The weapons were clumsy, and only useful in groups. It would be easy to dispatch of the inferior warriors and make his way into the complex. The battle would be brief.

He slipped from the alleyway and approached with confidence. Once he had closed to his chosen distance, he spread his cape and drew his blade. The eunuchs, who had been watching him curiously, snapped into action. One, obviously a leader, charged at him head on, lunging with his spear. Seto knocked it down effortlessly and placed his foot atop it, driving it into the permafrost. The second was charging from the side, exactly on formation for the holy guard's attack routines. Beautifully predictable. With a jerk of his arm Seto heaved his royal blade from his hands and into the ribs of the charging warrior. With another motion he grabbed the shoulders of the stunned eunuch in front of him. In a leap, he spun overtop of the warrior, sliding his hands to a firm hold underneath the holy guard's armpits. As the leap ended he continued his momentum, heaving the warrior at another closing antagonist. The two bodies collided with a thud; at least one of them was dead.

The royal guard that had been punctured by his projectile sword had decided to fall forward. Seto snatched it eagerly from his chest and spun on the next charging assailant. The spear dived in, predictably, and Seto effortlessly lopped off the tip, driving the weapon high in the process. With his momentum behind him, the eunuch couldn't stop his forward drive. Even as he spun to face the next foe, Seto's blade snaked high enough upward to slit his enemy's throat. By now, the remaining two foes had abandoned their trained battle routines, realizing the foe could predict every move. Lining up on either side of him, they charged to meet in the middle. Seto stifled a laugh.

With two lightning fast slashes he knocked their spears to either side. Then, throwing himself into a spin, his blade leapt at their exposed necks and chests. In three quick turns he'd delivered three independently lethal blows to each warrior. He paused only to grab the spear from one of the falling bodies. Spinning with purpose, he located the last remaining live foe, pinned under the body of his comrade. The spear flew truly, ending the last of the six soldiers' lives.

Sheathing his sword, Seto strode through the door.

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Weevil and Rex argued loudly as they stormed through the rising pass into the Segregos Mountains. Their agreement had been simple: Weevil would give Rex the bulk of their funds to buy a preposterously large sword they had been ogling in Cobalt, and in exchange Weevil would be given the privilege of being the one to reach into Serenity's bedroll to recover the card. He'd contracted a terrible nosebleed while doing it (he swore his hand brushed buttocks) but he'd taken the card without much ado. Now, he was refusing to pay up.

"Come on, Weevil, you _owe_ me. You brushed butt for god's sake," Rex whined, a few steps behind the green haired insect duellist.

"Ha. If you're a fool I can hardly be blamed for that, Raptor."

"Don't make me trash you, you know I can," the dinosaur-fascinated midget warned, placing his hand on his pole-arm for emphasis even though Weevil couldn't see the move.

Weevil glanced back over his shoulder and sneered at his comrade. "My insects would devour you. Do you really want to meet them again?"

Rex cringed at the mention of the encounter. "You still owe me," he asserted.

"And I believe both of you have something that you owe me," Chamuel called as he strode down from the appointed meeting place to meet his charges. He'd employed the two heathens to an end and it appeared they'd succeeded. He smiled broadly, his blue eyes and blunt features glowing towards the successful adventurers.

"Yeah, yeah. Give it to him, Weevil," Rex barked, frustrated at Weevil's refusal to deliver his payment.

"No, I don't think I will. We have what you need, now you're going to double the payment. Think of all the beautiful insects I can purchase with that money."

Chamuel blinked, but his smile never faded. "Are you certain that's your decision?"

"Just what are you going to do about it?" Weevil sneered.

In an instant the smile disappeared from Chamuel's face. Neither Weevil nor his partner recognized the action, but Chamuel quickly drew an Eatgaboon trap card from his sleeve and activated it. The flytrap like mass enveloped Weevil from the waist down, pinning his arms to his side as its sharp death dug into him. The summoner could feel the magical monster's thick tongue tasting his legs as its tightly bound jaw held him fast. Rex moved to draw his weapon, but it a single motion Chamuel sprayed dizzying sparks from his hand in an arc onto Rex. The duellist clawed at the glowing embers sticking fast to his skin (he had been one of the few that had kept the pain setting on), desperately trying to eliminate the scorching, blinding masses.

Chamuel turned back to the fast-held Weevil, and took a brief moment to draw a curving, hooked dagger from within his robes. He was slow, but merciful. With one drawn-out strike he slit Weevil's throat and sent him home. Turning deliberately to face Rex, Chamuel's broad, benevolent smile returned. He slammed the pommel of his weapon into the warrior's jaw, knocking him prone and then slowly removed his pole weapon from him.

"I'm the kind to reward wisdom, and you were wise in wishing to give me the card. As a result, your reward is that you will live," he informed him, and then paused. His eyes scanned where Weevil's body lay. "Then again, perhaps that isn't a reward. After all, your friend got to die."

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The wooden door broke under the force of the third kick and Seto purposefully stepped through. His blade slashed once in either direction and the guards, still stunned by the feat of strength required to break the thick wooden door, fell to the ground clutching their slit throats. Seto didn't even pause to acknowledge their deaths. He knew where his target was; nothing was going to stop him. We would not fail.

Another eunuch charged toward him, but his sluggish movements were no match for the prince's agility. He grabbed the spear behind the head, stopping the eunuch in his tracks, and snapped the tip off effortlessly. As he strode past the holy guard he drove the spearhead into his chest, silencing any alarm the mute may have given. With ease belying the monstrous strength provided him by his high in-game level, he kicked down another wooden door and stepped down the stairs into the prison section. He was met with a figure he did not expect.

"You have an awful lot to explain for," he snapped.

"To be honest, I don't answer to you, brother," Raphael replied, hopping off of the wooden crate to stand before his friend with whom he had grown up.

"Son of the great Warlord Fallacian, friend to the Dragon Prince, and traitor to the human race. Is that what you've become, Raphael?"

"The Raphael you knew is dead. True, it was I who betrayed your plans to Remiel. I was surprised Raziel didn't already know, but you let enough slip to piece together who your associates were. Did they die well?"

"No. They died by my hands, and that is a sin that I bear. I wonder, Raphael, how many you've chosen to bear?" Seto spat.

"There are no sins in the path that I've chosen. I won't inform Azrael of your presence, brother, until you've left the city. My advice to you is to leave Sandalphon, leave Kaiba and never return. That will not protect you from the designs of Remiel, but it will perhaps prolong your life."

"If the creator, the true creator and not the lies your church propagates, is just, then I hope you will enjoy the slow death you've arranged for yourself."

"Don't grieve for the dead; accept their deaths and learn to move on. You knew a young boy who died years ago; forget him."

Seto brushed past the prelate and strode toward the prison cell he knew Sagaelen would be sequestered in. He didn't look back to Raphael, but he couldn't suppress the betrayed rage that welled up inside him. His worst suspicious about his best friend were confirmed: Raphael was one of them.

"There goes the last great human," Raphael muttered to himself. "He'll die without understanding what it is he fights to protect."

The prince finally reached the thick iron door of the containment cell. He knew that the doors would be controlled by lever in another room (the prison appeared to be almost an exact replica of the prison tower in Cobalt) and it was a simple matter to locate the room. Its wooden door proved as weak as the others, and soon the prince had access to the chamber. Only a single holy guardsman was in the room, leaping to his feet in a scrambled attempt to find his weapon. As Seto slid his sword from between the warrior's ribs he turned to locate the legend to the lever set. A moment later, the desired door swung open, the heavy iron lock disengaged with a dull metallic thud.

"Wha? Oh, is it that time of day again? Wonderful, I get a fantastic beating courtesy of Deiprelate Remiel," a high-pitched silky voice drawled from within the chamber.

"Shut up, Sagaelen," Seto snapped as he made his way to the door.

"Oh! Is that you, Princey-boy?"

Seto's hand shot into the darkness of the chamber and he pulled the body of the longhaired sage from the darkness. With almost bone breaking force he slammed him against the wall, drawing his face close to glare into his golden-brown eyes. "Don't _ever_ call me that."

Sagaelen laughed nervously. "Alright then. No need to be so blunt, Prin… Seto."

Deliberately, Seto dropped Sagaelen, and then turned to leave. It took a moment for the newly released prisoner to regain his composure, but when he did he sprinted after the prince. He wore a simple tan-button up shirt and matching pants, and nothing about him seemed to suggest sage. However, he was among the most learned men in Kaiba. "Wow! This is so exciting, a whole new adventure!"

Seto grunted.

"As we make a daring escape from a dungeon of a corrupt empire!"

"Remind me why I saved you?" Seto asked, not taking the time to glance at the man walking beside him.

"Why, out of the goodness of your heart of course!" Sagaelen chirped.

"Please stop talking," the prince groaned. He was beginning to believe he'd made a grievous error.

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"Just what is it that you are saying, Damien?" the large man, Duke Solitage, barked as he looked across at the three kneeling adventurers.

"Duke, we are fleeing from the holy guard, who have been pursuing us because of our involvement in a resistance against a dark plot within the church. Your duchy remains one of the few places in Kaiba immune to their hold. We are asking that you grant us refuge from them, " Damien replied, not taking his eyes off of the floor in front of him. Duke Solitage was a man that enjoyed his status. It was one reason his duchy had never fallen under Cobalt's rule.

"Immune to their hold? Preposterous. No place is immune to Cobalt, and even less to their church. Even here they have agents. Tell me, how much are you worth to them?" he sneered.

"M-my lord?" Damien stammered. He had been in Solitage before, and had always been led to depend upon the kind demeanour and fair words of its people. Their duke couldn't be the type to sell them out.

"Will they send their blackguards to retrieve you? Might I gain some favour by providing them with your worthless hides?"

"Duke," Serenity called softly, peeking her eyes up far enough to see the ruler's toes, "What they were, and perhaps are, planning is the total demise of humanity. How can you be so callous?"

Her tone was kind, not condemning, but the duke was not the sort to hear criticism from anyone. Leaving his large, wooden throne he strode toward Serenity and kicked her hard in the shoulder. The move sent her sprawling backward, but not for long. Fingers clenched tightly around her throat as his large hand burst forward. But, they relaxed as the cold tip of a rapier touched his neck.

"Let her go," Damien spat.

The rogue was well aware that almost a dozen ducal guards now had their weapons trained on him, but he knew that he had the upper hand. They would not allow their duke to die. "Release her, or I'll help you do so."

"Do that, and all three of you die here."

"I think I've already assured my death, and that of my comrades. But you will not touch the lady," he warned dangerously.

The duke let go, and Serenity fell to the floor, grabbing her neck and gasping for air. As Yugi came to her side, placing his arms around her, Damien stayed focussed on the duke. "Well, I think your hospitality has just about run out. And, we've overstayed our welcome. Tell your men to open the door, or their duke stains the carpet."

The doors swung open, but not from within. Two guards had opened the door from outside to allow entrance to a small, limping creature. Rex Raptor, badly wounded, limped through the court. When he reached the circle of guards he shot the threesome a hateful glare. His skin, green and crawling, seemed ready to pull from his body. "I have a message from Deiprelate Remiel:

"Remiel the Merciful has decided to grant you your lives. He also wishes to inform you that your recent act of disobedience to the church has been fruitless. Three of five are now in his possession. What you choose to do with the second life you've been given is up to you." Having finished his proclamation, Raptor turned and limped back out of the room. The message had been ingrained on his psyche through a lengthy process, and he had further been infected by a Germ Infection magic card to ensure his eventual demise, though it would take some time. His message was given, and now he left to attempt to find a cure. He wanted nothing more to do with Kaiba's game, but the idea of the amount he was being paid kept him seeking survival.

Damien nodded, more than a little disturbed by the image of the boy but not willing to waste an opportunity. He urged his comrades up, and together they made their way to the door with the duke as their protection. As soon as they reached the door, Damien released the duke and they fled. Duke Solitage rubbed his neck and glared at his guards. "What are you waiting for? Kill them."

The order had been anticipated, and the group was fleeing with all haste. Only Damien seemed to have a clear objective in mind. "Damien," Serenity called as she sprinted to keep up with the rogue, "Where will we go now?"

Damien took a moment to glance over his shoulder and ensure that his companions were with him. Curtly, he replied, "To Shrawn, and from there to Lortosia. We're getting the hell out of this country."

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"But wherever will we go, Princey-b-"

"As you value your life, don't finish that," Seto cut in, his long even strides leaving the sibling towers of Sandalphon far behind.

"Fine. Where is it you want to go, oh illustrious prince?" Sagaelen mocked, rolling his eyes at the prince's curtness.

"We need to destroy the next card before Remiel gets it. He's already got two and it won't take him long to excavate the third from underneath the rocks I left behind. If what you've told me is correct, then we'll need to head out of Kaiba for that. I'm going to Lortosia, and you're coming with me."

A/N: So, you may rest assured that they will (almost certainly) be meeting up soon. I'll admit that I'm not totally satisfied (it took all my willpower to keep the fight scene succinct) with this chapter, but I do like it. And it accomplishes more of what I'm aiming for. Just a few notes... the flashback may seem somewhat random at this point. It isn't, it has a very distinct point, but it isn't clear quite yet. It will be. Raphael is not Seto's brother, it's just a term of closeness (I figure you would realize that yourself, but just to avoid confusion...). So, what to expect next chapter… Angst? Action? Dramatic irony? You'll just have to wait and see. In the meantime, why don't you write a review and take a cookie? Oh, I'm out of cookies. Well, you can still leave a review.


	13. Pulling Strings

A/N: I did write new reviewer responses, if my profile page ever decides to refresh. This chapter frustrated me to no end. It simply refused to be written. So, I took a few hours off to read fanfiction instead. Because, as someone I can't remember once said, "If you don't have the time to read you don't have the time or tools to write." So I went back and read some old silentshipping from before I ever showed up. Between _Reprogramming Rebirth _and _I'd Rather Dream _I managed to scrounge together enough inspiration for a chapter. And if you haven't read those two, you really should. I can wait. Read them yet? Good. Now, on to chapter thirteen!

**Disclaimer**: I changed tactics. My lawyer ninjas are now attempting to use legalese to convince Kazuki Takahashi that I already own Yu-Gi-Oh! So far, it hasn't worked, so I still don't. 

**Chapter Thirteen: Pulling Strings**

"Please, let's just stop and rest a while, what do you say?"

"There isn't time," Seto answered callously to his travelling partner, increasingly wondering why he had bothered to save the ear sore. He was learned, that much was true. However, there were others besides the annoying, whiny, somewhat creepy sage that he was now dragging along that had the information he needed.

"But I'm cold," Sagaelen whined.

"What, do you want me to offer you my cape or something?" Seto grunted.

"That would be nice!" the sage chirped.

"Not happening," the prince replied. He remembered the same event occurring between him and Serenity not long ago on the train. How different was the girl from the irritating sage! She'd protested that she was fine, and he'd given her the cape anyway. For a brief moment he let himself drift into a blissful reminiscence of the trio he'd travelled with, until Sagaelen's voice drew him back.

"Shut up!" he yelled, spinning on the sage. "Do you think I want to listen to your mindless banter?"

"But… but, princey-b… Seto-b… Seto! I was just explaining what you had asked me to explain about the summoning of the Forbidden One…" Sagaelen whined.

With his thunder stolen, Seto turned and continued his purposeful path. "Fine, go on," he barked.

"Oh, sure thing, Seto! Y'know, I really feel like we're bonding here," Sagaelen drawled until a warning glare from the prince let him know he was on thin ice. "Right, to the task at hand!

"There are seven things necessary for the summoning of the Forbidden One. The first five are the cards that compose its parts, legs, arms and body. These exist in shrines scattered throughout, as far as we know, Kaiba."

"No, they exist outside of Kaiba," Seto corrected.

"How do you know?"

"Because I've seen one in Venyore."

"Really? How is it over there, because I have been looking for a new vacation sp… I'll get back to my explanation, then," Sagaelen ventured in response to another glare. "In addition to the five cards, the Forbidden One can only be summoned in one specific spot, historically a great convergence of spirit fountains called the 'summoning star'. Where, exactly, that is I don't know, and we can only hope that Remiel doesn't know either. Finally, it is impossible to summon the Forbidden One without knowing its name."

"It's name? It's the Forbidden One. Kaiba," Seto answered.

"No, it is a monster, like any other. It has a name, although that name has been lost to time. Without that name, the Forbidden One cannot be summoned."

"Then we hope that Remiel lacks that as well. And, in the meantime, we head to Venyore to find the next shrine. It'd be easier with a lodeship, but we'll sail it if we have to."

"You can't be serious, nobody could survive that trip. By boat? To Venyore? You must be joking, Seto-boy," the silver haired man stated.

"You are dangerously close to a mercy killing, Sagaelen."

"How would killing me be merciful?"

"To you? It wouldn't. To me, it would mean absolute bliss," Seto replied coldly.

The two walked in silence for some time, and Seto realized that Sagaelen was pouting. Ridiculous! He was a grown man, acting like a child; didn't he realize how absurd he sounded? Presently, the two came to a narrow pass. On one side were the sheer cliffs near the north end of the Cur Desert, and on the other side the nearly impassable crags that marked the entrance to the Untamed Lands. Seto immediately became wary. He knew many bandits populated the area, and he had no interest in dealing with an ambush.

"Well, this is certainly cheery!" Sagaelen chirped sarcastically.

"Not pouting anymore?" Seto sneered.

"Well, I can't be upset forever. Mind you, this is certainly the place to be upset if you're planning to," the sage muttered. They had walked deep into the canyon by this point, and large precipices on either side allowed only faint rays of light to streak in from above.

"This is the place to ambush someone if you're planning to. Now shut up, before we run into something unfortunate."

"Eloquently put, Dragon Prince," a melodic voice called from somewhere above; Seto quickly drew his sword.

"You church types always want to make an entrance, don't you?"

Leaping from a ledge not far above, the black haired prelate hit the ground with cat-like grace. He drew his own sword, a long sword stained black along the edge. As his green eyes flashed with hate, he scanned his foe. "I am not as benevolent as Raphael. He wanted to let you go, and I had no intention of tolerating that. It's time we eliminated the Dragon Prince, no matter what the others may say."

"You should listen to your comrades, Azrael. They're trying to protect you."

"From you? Perhaps a lifetime of meagre foes has lulled you into overconfidence, Seto. Fallacian and Shale may be powerful warriors, but they are, after all, only human. You're about to go toe-to-toe with a demigod," Azrael boasted.

Sagaelen understood Seto's body language, and he quickly withdrew from what was likely to become a field of battle. The two seemed to be gauging each other, standing nearly still and staring. A few moments passed, and then the two, perhaps dancing to a tune that only they could hear, both simultaneously broke into movement.

Charging, both quickly recognized the other's pattern of movement. As they reached the same point, each leapt to their left and charged, meeting in a twisted flurry of blades. The movements were uncannily fast, and a flurry of blades met between the two warriors, kicking up a cloud of dust. Again, to the inaudible tune, the two leapt back simultaneously and then charged again, Seto striking from below in a quick trio of slashes while Azrael flawlessly batted them aside. Then, Azrael went on the attack, driving with a lunge that quickly feinted into a slash that in turn found a perfect parry from the prince. Undaunted, Azrael charged recklessly.

Seto was a match for Azrael in skill, but the warrior couldn't believe the risk involved in the prelate's moves. His attacks were almost impossible to defeat, but each left him more open than the last. Seto parried a shoulder lunge, and brought his blade in a slash across the prelate's chest. Without even a wince, Azrael reversed the momentum of his blade and slashed at the prince's neck. Seto ducked, but the prelate was expecting the move and kneed him in the face. Now staggering, Seto retreated a few quick steps and leapt to a low hanging nearby ledge. Azrael easily followed.

The prelate didn't tire, and his slashes remained reckless. He lunged, and Seto knocked the blade down. Without blinking, Azrael continued the lunge at Seto's legs. The prince quickly stepped away, but the unbelievably imprudent and unexpected move had left him off balance. Azrael rose, blade tip driving first, and lunged at the fleeing prince. Seto parried the blade aside and crossed back, adding another deep gash to Azrael's chest in the process. This time, the prelate grinned. His blade slammed back into Seto's free arm, driving through to the bone. But he didn't sustain the strike; instead he withdrew his blade and lunged again. No longer there, the prince had instead leapt to another higher precipice. It was a marvel Azrael was still upright, and yet he pursued with, if anything, greater viciousness.

The dance continued for several more minutes. The three-step waltz repeated, Seto blocking, striking and then fleeing. Soon, he was running out of ledges. Azrael had sustained yet more wounds, most superficial, but his vigour remained unhindered. Finally, nearly atop the edge of the cliff face, Seto made his stand. As soon as Azrael leapt atop the ledge he charged at him with his own fury. The two struck violently, kicking up another cloud of dust from the ledge beneath. Seto, however, was infallible. With blindingly fast strikes he dove in and out of Azrael's defences, scoring minor hits while avoid even the heedless strikes of the prelate. Furiously, his royal blade knocked Azrael's aside, weakening his foe's hold while preventing him from further attacking. Azrael couldn't get inside Seto's attacks, until finally the prince drove forward with his full strength, slamming the strong of his blade against the strong of Azrael's and locking them, forcing all his strength behind his blade to push the prelate's back. Their eyes met as they pressed, but neither gained ground. Finally, Azrael drew one hand away from his blade and shot it forward, wrapping his fingers around the prince's neck. Then, to Seto's horror, he leapt off the ledge, pulling the prince with him.

The two drifted into freefall. Seto kicked hard in Azrael's chest to free himself from his grasp and, liberated, hooked the spur of his sword around the end of Azrael's. With something to propel him, he gave a hard pull to bring himself closer. The two swung viciously, slashing and parrying in their few short seconds of freefall. Then, hooking his blade around Azrael's again and driving his foot into the prelate's shoulder for momentum, Seto swung himself toward the cliff face desperately and grabbed hold of a stray ledge. He snapped into stillness, badly wounding his shoulder but stopping his freefall. Azrael hit the ground hard, raising a brown dust cloud as he did. Only a brief moment after the stop, Seto's badly damaged arm gave way and he fell unceremoniously the last ten metres to the ground. He landed in a heap, and lay prone for several moments.

Finally, the prince laboriously climbed to his feet. Not far from where he had fallen, Sagaelen stood transfixed, staring at the prince. "Calm down, Sagaelen. I'm fine. Let's get going." Sagaelen didn't reply, but continued to stare at the prince. Finally, Seto realized that Sagaelen wasn't staring at him, but _past_ him. The moment he realized this, he turned. His heart sank.

Exactly where he had fallen, Azrael battered body pressed itself to its feet. Azrael's eyes were blank, but even as he strained to stand he readied his black-edged blade. "Ridiculous…" Seto muttered. The prelate was impossible. He was beginning to believe his claim to being a demigod.

The prince knew when he was overmatched. He had delivered five hits for every one he'd taken, and yet Azrael seemed unfazed. "Sagaelen, go. Run to Lortosia."

Sagaelen gave Seto a horrified look, but he obeyed. Sliding close to the wall, he slid past an apathetic Azrael and fled down the canyon. "Are you beginning to understand the inevitability of your demise, prince?" Azrael sneered, limping toward the warrior.

"Nothing is inevitable, Azrael. I make my own destiny."

"Your life was never yours, Seto," Azrael replied coldly, drawing closer while keeping his gaze locked on his opponent.

"Perhaps it wasn't," Seto replied, fixing the prelate in his sights, "But I'm taking it now. And there's nothing you can do to stop me." As Seto spoke the words, he crouched into a defensive position and formed the plan in his mind. Azrael didn't seem worried.

"I disagree," Azrael called. He leaned slightly to one side, the side he was limping on, and raised the tip of his blade. Solely by will he seemed to repair his body, forcing himself into a battle position. Now, without the limp, he pressed forward.

Seto charged, but he had no interest in further combat. More than a metre away from Azrael, he leapt, clearing the prelate by almost a full metre. He landed in a roll and turned, and as expected Azrael was already spinning. The prelate noticed Seto had something in his hand, but by this point it was too late. With a flash, the card transformed into the great Tri-Horned Dragon. It bore down on Azrael, and the prelate knew that Seto had escaped, for the time being. He let the dragon destroy him.

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With a slightly less powerful rear guard than Seto had left behind, Serenity, Damien and Yugi had fled while Kagemusha of the Blue Flame did his utmost to hold the ducal guards of Solitage at bay. They had reached the hamlet of Shrawn, a pathetically small fishing town along the coast. There, they had purchased a tiny catamaran and began to make their way up the coast, slowly ploughing forward toward Lortosia, where they would be able to make their way to the Serendipity Islands and out of Kaiba.

Serenity let her legs glide behind the ship in the water, quietly lying back on the deck of their tiny craft and drifting in and out of sleep. Against the mast of the ship, Yugi slept soundly, exhausted from the events of the past few days. Only Damien remained vigilant, silently steering the craft to stay close to, but not too close to, the shore. The wind was weak at best, but slowly the craft drifted closer to its objective.

"Serenity," Damien called softly, bringing the girl out of her daze.

The redhead sat up and turned, sleep still on her face but offering the black haired rogue a half-dazed smile. "What is it, Damien?"

"I… owe you an apology," he stated. "It was wrong of me to brush aside your fears about the card. Especially since they proved to be well-grounded."

"Oh… uh, Damien, don't worry about it. There was no way…"

"No. Don't excuse it. I was callous, and I shouldn't have been, because I… I care about you, Serenity."

Serenity blushed furiously. "Oh… well… I care about you too, Damien. You're a good friend," she replied, emphasizing friend. Indescribably uncomfortable, Serenity merely hoped the AI wasn't insistent on pursing a romantic relationship. Not only could it not go anywhere, but the idea was mildly frightening.

Damien forced a smile, figuring that Serenity hadn't caught his meaning. He'd have to try again later. "Thanks, Serenity… I… appreciate that…"

The girl rose to her feet, glad to have pressed past the uncomfortable discussion, and walked to the head of the catamaran. "Are we almost there?" she asked, straining her eyes to search further along the coastline.

"Not much further," Damien assured her. "We should be in the Serendipity Islands by nightfall. Hopefully, once we're there, we'll be able to get some information on the next shrine."

Serenity smiled. "Good. We have to avenge Seto, and the only way to do that is to stop Remiel's plans."

"Yes…" Damien replied flatly, "Seto…"

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"I'm not going to say that I'm not disappointed in you, Azrael. It is, after all, your duty to comply with my will. You should have left the prince alone. You have accomplished nothing," Remiel rebuked the prelate, his white hair hanging over his face and all but obscuring it.

"I did what the rest of you were too cowardly to do. I tried to stop him. Yes, I may have failed this time but he is weak now. We have but to strike…"

"Silence!" Remiel yelled. "You will do no such thing. Are you so blinded by hate that you fail to see the beauty of his actions? He, like his companions whom I chose to spare, will lead us to the cards we still lack. They are still under the conceit that the cards can be destroyed. This is foolishness, we know. They will lead us to the cards, and then we will take them. And then, we will use them."

"Then let the others lead us to the cards. He is mine."

"Again, you are ever the fool. Why not leave the thinking to Raziel, or Jophiel, or even Phanuel? You are a creature of hate. Bind yourself," Remiel suggested.

"I won't be bound by you, Remiel. Not this time," Azrael spat back.

"And what will you do? Kill me? You are infinitely subordinate to me. And I know how much you desire those cards. No, you will stay here in Sandalphon, under the watch of Chamuel, and make your plans. Within three days we will have summoned the Forbidden One, and then you will need wait no longer."

Azrael glared hatefully at the deiprelate. "Your word is law." With that, he stormed out of the chamber. Behind him, Jophiel entered cautiously. He wore his black hair in a topknot, and his face was drawn but jovial. Bowing low before the deiprelate, his yellow robes dragged along the ground.

"Rise, Jophiel. What is it?"

"They tell me that they have found Uriel. I take it his plans run contrary to our own?"

"Of course. He doesn't understand what our true intentions are, but his knowledge is still dangerous. Knowledge, I understand, you gave him," Remiel added, narrowing his eyes slightly.

"Such a thirst for knowledge that boy had, I couldn't stand between him and his inspiration. Did I err?" he asked sincerely.

Remiel paused, scanning Jophiel with his piercing blind eyes. "No. As usual, the failure was Azrael's. What is it that you see in him?"

"He is necessary, deiprelate. Without Azrael, there will be no unification. Without unification, suffering will be endless. Cruel though Azrael may be, he is necessary to an end and an integral part of the greater whole," Jophiel answered confidently.

"I fear he will be the death of us all," Remiel replied sadly.

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"What!"

"No one is sailing to the Serendipity Islands, Seto-boy. They all say there's some sort of sea monster causing problems, and the way is blocked off," Sagaelen answered.

Seto's eyebrow twitched, but he didn't even comment on the use of the perturbing nickname. "We're going to the docks, I'm going to personally talk to one of these captains."

Together, the pair stormed down to Lortosia's harbour. After a brief look at the manifest for the port, they found one merchant ship that made regular trips to the islands off the coast. It took them only a few minutes to locate the ship, called the Kingfisher, and they found the captain below deck. Seto, his arm still sore from being roughly popped back into position and sporting the shades he'd taken from Keith, quickly engaged the sea captain.

"You're to take us to the Serendipity Islands," he commanded in a tone that left no room for questioning.

The captain, a rough man with a thick mane of dirty blonde hair, glanced up from his softly swaying desk in the bottom of the ship. "I think not. There are monsters in that there sea and I'm not going to put me ship in danger for the likes of you."

"Any monster you encounter I can handle," Seto barked.

"Again, I think not. This isn't some Mechanical Fish or Octoberser. By all accounts this is a mighty sea dragon, with breath like great water tornados and terrible rending claws. You may think you're a great warrior, but you'd be no match for this creature," the captain warned.

Seto threw open his cape, which he had had wrapped tightly around him, and drew his distinctive royal blade. With his free hand, he removed his sunglasses. As he leaned in, he placed the blade atop the desk and smirked as the captain's eyes flashed with recognition of the pariah prince. "Leave the dragon to me."

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The catamaran slid into Lortosia's docks with a dull thud, and the hands quickly moored the small craft. Its three occupants disembarked, awe apparent at the bustle of the city's docks. They'd been to the town once before, but had never seen the centre of the city's greatest commerce. It was a sight to behold. Massive wooden ships docked by the dozens in the harbour; constantly a flow of goods on and off the ships ebbed and flowed as a human emulation of the tides below.

"I'm looking to catch a ride on a ship heading to the Serendipity Islands," Damien called to one of the dockhands as they tied off the last of the ship's lines. "Can you direct me to a vessel?"

"No one running that route anymore," the hand replied offhandedly.

"Hey, are they looking to head out to the islands?" another hand called from not far away. The first turned to him and nodded, and the second glanced at the travellers. "The Kingfisher is heading out, from what I hear. You should head down and see them," he offered.

The group nodded their thanks, and headed toward the boat. If they had made it to the deck only a few minutes earlier they would have seen Seto head into town, intent on purchasing a better disguise as he realized that he would have to try and avoid recognition by the crew. The captain's silence had been purchased, but the crew would be best left in the dark.

Instead, they found the captain on deck readying his crew for the journey. "Hurry up, you dogs. We've got work to do, and we're being paid _well_."

"Umm, sir?" Yugi called as he reached the deck.

"What're you for?" he called as he turned on the boy. "Not more companions of that blasted traveller, are you? The one is already too much."

"No," Damien answered slowly. "We understand you're heading off to the islands?"

"That's right. We've got a rather rich knight paying us for the journey, and he seems to think he can handle anything that we encounter. I'm inclined to believe him. Why? What's it to you?" he grunted.

"If it's alright, we'd like to come along," Serenity replied, smiling and bowing slightly for effect.

The captain scrutinized them for a minute. "Yeah? Well, it'll cost you."

"Of course," Damien replied without missing a beat. "What's your fee?"

"Three hundred Mokus. Each," the captain decided with a nod, crossing his arms to communicate that he was not open to discussion.

"Done," Damien replied, drawing sufficient funds from his pouch and handing them over. "When do we leave?"

The captain stared at the money in his hand. "Damn, I probably could've gotten more. It'll take us another hour to be ready to make way, so be on board by then or be left behind."

"Ooh! More guests, how delightful!" a familiar voice called, and Yugi wheeled to face the man.

"Pegasus?" he called incredulously.

"Pegasus? I'm Sagaelen. And who might you be?" the Pegasus look-alike called, skipping across the deck to meet the new arrivals.

"Yugi…" Yugi answered slowly, uncomfortable with the man that reminded him of the eccentric billionaire. Why would Kaiba put him in his game? Most likely, he was trying to prove something. Either that he wasn't afraid of him, or that he didn't believe that his soul had been stolen in Duellist's Kingdom, or something. That, or he just enjoyed a setting where he could kill the obnoxious businessman.

"Oh, how wonderful! Named after the first deiprelate. Well, Yugi-boy, it's been a pleasure meeting you but I absolutely must go retrieve some things. Nice meeting you all. Tootaloo," he called as he headed down to the dock.

The captain gruffly informed the trio that rooms had been prepared for them. He escorted them into the hold below, and showed them the two rooms they'd been allotted. One contained two swinging hammocks and a single chest, meant for the two men in the group. The other only contained one hammock, but it was padded with pillows and significantly cleaner. Even the gruff sailors put some effort into accommodating a lady. The group took a few moments to settle into their rooms and then headed above deck.

"We should go into town and buy some supplies. Our food is running short, and there's a good chance that we won't get another chance to shop for a while," Damien suggested in a hushed tone as the group gathered on the deck.

"I need to buy another monster, I hardly have anything left," Serenity added.

"Alright, let's go," Yugi agreed, and the trio disembarked. At the bow of the ship, Seto, robed in black, didn't notice their departure. Instead, he simply headed below deck, entering his room in silence and allowing himself to brood. Forced to share a room with Sagaelen, he would take whatever moments of silence he could find.

_"I'm sorry, son. There was nothing that could be done for your mother. She's dead," King Aildren informed his son. Seto stared at his father, confused. A single tear ran down his pale cheek and fell to the floor. The king rested his hand on his son's shoulder, and gave a gentle squeeze. Desperately, he tried to remain stoic. His son would not see him cry. Finally, he turned and exited the room._

_Numbly, the young prince set himself down on the edge of his bed. His mother was dead. How? Why? None of it made any sense to him. Surely, there was someone to blame, someone who could be punished for stealing his mother from him. The door creaked open and the soft form of the deiprelate slid into his room. His white hair hung delicately around him as he sat beside the young prince._

_"How are you faring, Seto?"_

_"I… don't understand," Seto admitted._

_The deiprelate softly placed a hand around the young prince. "It's alright. You couldn't have foreseen the ramifications of such a simple request."_

_Seto blinked at the Remiel. "What do you mean?"_

_"Did no one explain to you how your mother died?" Remiel asked in shock._

_Blinking back tears, Seto shook his head._

_"Your mother… that night that she stood on the balcony with you so long, she began to catch a cold. The illness was minor, but you know how fragile your mother was. The cold grew into a terrible illness, and that is what she died from. But you mustn't blame yourself, Seto. It was your request that led to your mother's fatal illness, but it isn't your fault. You couldn't have known…" Remiel explained gently._

_Seto began to cry silently. There was someone to blame. It was him. It had all seemed so simple, a simple request and a simple dream, but his selfishness had cost his mother her life, his father his wife and his brother his mother. In a rush of hot coldness, Seto understood._

Suddenly, Seto found the confines of the room suffocating. Brusquely, Seto left the room and headed to the deck above. If he had left only a moment earlier he might have seen Serenity, Yugi and Damien head into their rooms. Instead, he saw only the empty hall. If he had listened carefully he may have recognized their voices. Instead, he heard only the creak of the ship as it left port and the annoying drawl of his companion's voice on deck.

A/N: So close, yet so far away. I love the interaction between Remiel and Seto in the flashback. Remiel convinced the prince that his mother's death is his fault by telling him how it isn't. Love him? Hate him? Want to let me know? Why not leave a review? Think it'll end the stream of annoying questions? Do you even care?


	14. Glimmer of Light

A/N: New reviewer responses as soon as my profile page updates... that said, I tend to like to give ideas as to future plot developments while not explaining what those developments are, in such a way as it doesn't make sense at the time but, in the light of later events, makes perfect sense. Apparently, I've pushed the limit of what people will tolerate when it comes to that strategy a little too far. Allow me to explain: Yes, Raziel died and was back two scenes later. Yes, Azrael died and was back two scenes later. This, I know. It isn't a typo, you aren't misreading, I'm not crazy. I hope. I received a couple of comments about this, so I felt it had to be said. Why? If I explained that, it would ruin the surprise. With that done, go ahead and enjoy chapter fourteen. At this risk of over-hyping, the battle in this chapter may just be the best I've written. So go ahead and read. It's dangerous to linger on the lengthy author's note. You may be eaten by a grue.

**Disclaimer**: Well, Kazuki Takahashi's lawyer ninjas used legalese to convince mine that they already worked for Kazuki Takahashi. As a result, I am left without legal counsel, bodyguards and a fourth for bridge. Oh, and the rights to Yu-Gi-Oh! I don't have those either.

**Chapter Fourteen: Glimmer of Light**

Quietly, Seto Kaiba sifted through the endless stream of statistics. His mind catalogued them one after another, each probability and its significance bearing a certain importance. After a while, he stood and poured himself another cup of coffee. Its soothing aroma calmed his nerves, and he sighed loudly. The dark roast brew slid down his throat and warmed his stomach. Kaiba always splurged to buy more than the acid coffee most offices kept, and in moments like this he was reminded why. Finally, he turned back towards the lab. His brother slept silently in one of the chairs, Seto's trench coat draped over him like a blanket, bathed in the soft artificial glow of the computer screen.

How had it happened? Seto's researchers had spent years looking into the plausibility of AI, and all had determined it impossible. And here, in a video game, an AI script had evolved into the first ever true artificial intelligence. It was ridiculous. Moreover, he was now involved into an investigation as to whether or not some kind of artificial body could be created to accommodate the artificial mind. Kaiba Corp was not a robotics firm, and he refused to make public the existence of the AI until he had learned more about it. Now, he was exhausting what free human resources he had into what was an expensive and ultimately fruitless search. And all for the sake of conscience. When had that developed? Did it even matter?

He sat back down at his desk and glanced back to the computer screen. With a few quick keystrokes he called the rendering program, and with a few more he located Prince Seto. Instantly he recognized the locale (although there was scarcely a locale in his game that he wouldn't) and realized both his goal and the immediate obstacle. Rough waters were ahead.

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The ship swayed and rocked on the waves, listing to one side and then the other as it climbed the variable hills of the ocean. The sky above was an endless expanse of pale grey stretching from one limitless horizon of water to the other. Standing near the bow of the craft, Seto allowed himself to list with the ship. He fell out of awareness of anything, except the soft call of the sea wind, and simply stared into nothingness. For a brief moment, he could hear Serenity speaking. It meant nothing. She was gone.

A raindrop struck his sunglasses and beaded, sliding off of the sheer black surface and onto his cheek. His gloved hand brushed it aside and he focussed on the sea ahead. Silver silhouetted, its waves rolled in his vision, ever turbulent, ever changing. Like life. Gradually, the rain picked up and soon it was pouring around him. The torrents of rain soaked his cloaks, but he seemed not to notice. Deckhands yelled around him, but he didn't notice them either. His eyes, instead, focussed ahead, where the water was moving against the wind.

"Captain," he called as he threw aside his cloak and drew his blade. "If you've any other warriors aboard, make them ready. Our enemy is upon us!"

"Aye!" the captain called over the wind and waves. He turned, "Ready all cannons, all able bodied men on deck. Rouse our guests and see if they'll be any help to us. We're going to need everyone we can get." The deckhand complied and headed below as fast as his sea legs would carry him. With deliberate force, fighting against the escalating wind, the captain turned back to Seto. "Knight! Can you handle the dragon?"

"There's no dragon that I can't," Seto replied confidently. Suddenly, his eyes widened as he saw the creature begin to rear out of the water. Cascading streams of grey-green seawater rolled off of its back, and the prince's eyes flared with recognition. "But that's no dragon!"

Purple, red and green shell ground against one another as the titanic monster forced itself out of the water. Its massive, crab-like claws snapped in eager anticipation as its one bulbous eye scanned the deck of the ship. Atop its back was a hard turtle shell that supported several crab-like, sharp ended legs. The Crab Turtle's rear legs snapped and drew menacingly, outlined by thunder in the driving rain. Its belly was crab-like, ridged and strong, and to either side grew two more pointed crab legs. Seto levelled his blade at the gigantic monster and sneered. "Let's see what you've got, then."

Yugi, Damien and Serenity reached the deck as Seto made the motion, but between the darkened skies, the driving rain and the massive monster they made no note of who he was. Serenity quickly performed a double summon, calling her new Red Archery Girl and Kagemusha from their cards and directing them to attack the beast. Quickly abandoning the idea of firing his one small fireball at the beast, Yugi instead prepared a Snake Fang trap card and closed the distance to the monster. Damien passed him in a charge, guessing at the eye as the obvious weak point. While all this occurred, the helmsman was already dragging the ship alongside the monster and ordering the cannons readied as he did.

With a bellow of feral anger, the turtle fired forth one of its massive claws at the defiant prince. Monsters were nothing if not predictable. Seto easily leapt over the blow and landed with one foot on either side of the massive pincer. Reacting to the movment, the crab spread the claw, hoping to drop the prince into his grasp; but Seto didn't stay still. With quick, light steps he raced up the creature's arm. As he reached the shoulder he sprinted across, easily dodging the sharp crab-leg spears that sprouted from its back, and slashed at the soft tissue around the eye. The beast reared, just in time to catch one of Red Archery Girl's arrows just below the eye, and dove back into the water. As he did, the prince threw himself into an agile dive that ended in a soft landing on the deck of the listing craft.

The turtle resurfaced quickly, however, this time to the port side of the ship. He dragged one of his great, two-toed feet onto the side of the craft, driving it down into the surf. The ship's cannons fired, and a streaking black sphere struck his shell with incredible force. Withdrawing slightly, the Crab Turtle swept its massive claw along the side of the ship, tearing away the rail and sending the cannons and their operators into the churning sea. Kagemusha leapt in a slashing fury into the chest of the turtle, and the turtle's forward pointed legs wrapped around the monster. He was liberated, however, as Damien's blade slashed the legs from the cracked deck, forcing the beast back and weakening his hold of the swordsman. Now too far away to strike from the deck, Damien leapt atop the legs and ladder-climbed them to slash at the cycloptic creature's single eye. With a deliberate strike it knocked Damien to the deck, but merely stunned the warrior.

Another arrow sailed in from the deck and struck the side of the monster's eye. It howled in pain and flailed furiously, swatting Kagemusha into the surf as it reeled from the blow. Leaping from the deck, Seto charged up the monster's back and atop the shoulders again, slashing away the assaulting legs as he resumed his assault on its great eye. This time, the beast lunged forward and struck the deck of the ship with incredible force, knocking the prince into a roll along the deck that ended in his striking the rail of the opposite side. Quickly he regained his feet, but lost his composure to the sight that he found. Standing on the deck, calling the bowshots of the Red Archery Girl, was Serenity. Not far away from her was Yugi. It was impossible! They were dead!

Serenity quickly guided the arrows of her Red Archery Girl, ordering her shots towards the eye and small gaps in the plated armour. Beside her, Yugi drew forth his Snake Fang trap card and fired it off, the magically summoned snake latching on to the soft flesh around the eye and injecting its poison into their foe. The Crab Turtle scuttled across the deck on all fours, its back mounted legs smashing into the deck and slashing the rigging. Finally, it neared Serenity and Yugi. As the sorcerer dove, rolling out of the way of the charging beast, the Red Archery Girl retreated into the safety of her shell. Only Serenity took the full brunt of the charging creature's attack. It blew both her and her monster into the sea, but the sea bound monster easily regained herself. Serenity had been knocked unconscious, and numbly began to sink. Tasting the kill, the turtle lunged after, but a flying lead ball from aside stopped it. Seto had turned a cannon and readied its blast, and suddenly the turtle had a new target. It would have pursued it, but yet another fly saw fit to sting it. Finding his opportunity, Yugi fired his fireball into the flesh beside the eye. The turtle spun and charged on all fours. Seto seized the opportunity.

Diving into the sea, he found Serenity almost instantly. He wrapped his arm around the girl and swam furiously through the churning waters back to the ship. At the side, he wrapped his arm around the hanging end of a rigging rope and slashed it from its hold. The freed rope immediately pulled him from the water and propelled him all the way to the crow's nest. Below, the turtle had damaged much of the deck in its pursuit of Yugi. Of the three masts of the ship, only the main mast remained. A charging claw slashed Yugi hard, goring his side and breaking an arm. Another narrowly missed killing him, and another destroyed the rail that had held him on deck. The turtle lunged to kill, but found itself distracted again. Jabbing and thrusting, the wicked rapier of Damien lunged at the weak tissue underneath his arm and bit him viciously. The turtle wailed, and jabbed with its own claw. Sidestepping, Damien assumed he had dodged the attack. He missed the sharp-ended leg from the back of the turtle, and it plunged between his ribs in his back. When it withdrew it pulled Damien's body along and cast him into the sea.

Yugi rolled between the crouching turtle's front claws and back legs, running along back to the bow in order to avoid the furious monster's attacks. He needn't have bothered. With a lack of anything better to do with her, Seto still held Serenity tightly to himself. Nevertheless, he refused to be a spectator. He leapt atop the turtle from behind and, fully surprising the beast, leapt off of its shoulder. Spinning in midair, his blade slashed forward and split the massive eye in half. A shower of clear gel sprayed from the hole, chasing after Seto as he fell to the deck. Since the deck itself had already taken too much strain, the fall propelled him through the deck and into the hull of the badly damaged ship. Quickly, he leapt from the hole to the deck of the ship and slashed at the turtle's legs as he passed it. It spun, feeling his movements now that it was blinded, and jabbed at the prince. His attacks missed their target, but punched holes in the already damaged deck. Seto quickly leapt from the ground to the main mast and kicked from one sail support to another, finally reaching the crow's nest again. The blinded creature bellowed, but its slashes couldn't find the prince. Arrows streaked from just off deck and ricocheted off of the monster's shell. It still wasn't going down.

Seto drew his brother's soul card from his deck box and lifted it to summon it. Caught on the raging wind of the storm, it tore from his hands. "No!" Seto cried in defiance and leapt after the falling card. He sheathed his sword in flight and high in the air his fingers finally grasped the precious item. Still clutching Serenity he plummeted into the surf.

Sagaelen huddled behind a barrel on the deck, hiding from the rampaging monster. Yugi found him there, and desperately tried to have him flee to the lifeboats. It was obvious the ship wouldn't hold. Sagaelen forced a smile, "I'm not much use, am I Yugi-boy? Oh wait! I think I have just the card!"

"You can fight?" Yugi asked, more than a bit of anger in his voice. If the sage could have fought all along, why had he done nothing yet?

"Oh, heavens no!" Sagaelen cried, "But you can! Here!" he called, pressing an Ookazi magic card into Yugi's hand. He winked and then charged for the lifeboat.

Yugi blinked at the card, but he quickly realized he didn't have time to contemplate the mysteries of Sagaelen. With its blinded flailing swipes, the turtle had already destroyed the remaining mast. Now, it was furiously driving holes into what was left of the ragged hull of the craft. Yugi drew the card and focussed on the pulpy remains of the eye. He called the card's name.

The massive explosion erupted not at the point Yugi had focussed on, but deeper within the hard-shelled body of the monster. Every soft point on the body exploded as one, spraying scorched crabmeat on the deck of the ship. Its shell fell apart, and the body hammered hard into the deck. The sheer force of the fall smashed what was left of the ship into splinters. With barely a plank to hold for floatation, the sea greeted the adventurers with a cold embrace.

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Faint threads of light tickled Serenity's face as her eyes slid open. Entangled in the comforter of plush bed, she fought to recall how she had gotten there. Gradually, she gave up the battle and simply rolled onto her side, embracing the pillow beneath her head. A quick scan of the room she was in revealed that it was large and nearly completely empty. It was made of a white stone, with high ceilings and a large window with only faint sheer curtains obscuring the view of the endless ocean outside. In front of the window stood a solitary figure, a man wearing only black trousers rolled up to the shin. His eyes were focussed out the window and it appeared that he hadn't noticed Serenity had woken.

The man had short, neat brown hair that looked almost exactly like Seto's. He was about the same height and build as the prince as well. In fact, the more Serenity looked at the man the more like Seto he appeared. After a few more moments, she decided that it had to be Seto, so alike were they in appearance. "Seto?" she called softly, finding her voice weaker than she had originally realized.

Turning slightly, the man's blue eyes glimmered as he saw the girl awake. "Yes?" he called back.

Serenity sat up in the bed and gawked. "How? How are you alive? We were sure that you'd died in the cave-in!"

"As I was sure you'd died in the cave-in. Until I saw you onboard the ship I was convinced all three of you were dead," Seto replied.

With a slight nod, Serenity laid back in her bed. "And are they here too? Um, wherever here is?"

Seto exhaled slowly. "Damien is in the next room, although he's in bad shape. Sagaelen washed up not long after him, and he's resting. Still no sign of Yugi."

The redhead replied with a grim nod. Yugi… now, she was left all alone, at least as far as actual humans went. As she pulled her eyes from Seto and directed them to the window again, she noticed a slight look of trepidation on the prince's face. "What is it?" she asked as her eyes drifted over the sparkling, rolling waves.

Seto smirked slightly at the girl resting in the bed. Her red hairs splayed beneath her as he brown eyes shimmered in the morning sunlight. It streaked through the window and danced upon her face, lighting the already luminescent girl. Before he'd lost her the first time, he'd had his feelings for her easily compartmentalized. But, when he'd seen knocked unto the ocean, he realized just how much she'd come to mean to him. Brushing rogue strands of hair neatly back into their place, he decided to answer. "It's a curious thing, how one person's words can affect another. And the worst part is that there's no way of knowing _how_ your words will affect someone until you've said them." He paused before offering the girl a genuine smile. "I think the creator meant it to be that way; because, in order to be happy, you have to simply trust your words. You must never say anything you don't mean, and you must always say what you do mean. That way, no matter how your words affect someone, you won't regret them."

Serenity turned and regarded the prince curiously. "What are you trying to say?" she inquired as her eyes scanned his barely clothed form.

The prince strode to the bed and placed his hand on Serenity's shoulder. It was warm, gentle and its touch seemed to send waves of heat rolling though her body to her toes. She smiled, reflexively, and her honey brown eyes met his deep blue. "I'm saying that I don't understand you," Seto replied, "But, for what it's worth, I never want to be apart from you." With that, he leaned in and kissed her forehead gently.

Trembling fingers touched Serenity's forehead as the prince turned and exited the redhead's room. She began to call after him, but Seto turned and placed a finger to his lips. "Don't say anything you'll regret. Don't ever say anything you'll regret." And then he was gone.

Serenity lay back in the bed as her finger trailed the spot on her forehead. Why did Kaiba program his characters to be so… lovesick? First Damien, and now Seto had made a pass on her. Now, it certainly wasn't that Seto wasn't attractive. He was an exact character replica of one of Japan's most eligible bachelors. And he was certainly amicable enough. He still retained the ego and often the caustic tongue of the CEO, but he also a gentle side, a philosophic side. Despite all those things, or more accurately because of them, Serenity had to remind herself that he wasn't real. Prince Seto was not a person. She lay back in her bed and placed her arms behind her head. Real or not, he had a great virtual ass.

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"Seto-b-"

"Do you think that is prudent?"

"Seto, look!" Sagaelen called as he handed Seto a slim book of about a hundred pages. "I was in the library and-"

"Out of bed. Sagaelen, you need to rest. I won't have you slowing us down when it's time to get moving," Seto snapped, dropping the volume back into the sage's hands.

"You're just no fun, you know that? Anyway, this is helpful! Would you at least take a look at it, princey-b-"

Seto levelled Sagaelen with a punch in the jaw, cutting the nickname short. Stooping over the prone, dazed body he scooped the book from his hands and rose. The narrow hallways of the structure they currently occupied were flooded with natural light, and he easily distinguished the title on the faded, dusty cover. "History of Kaiba?" he read, a tone of disdain in his voice.

"Volume III, actually," Sagaelen replied as he regained his feet. "The dialect is rather old, true, but it's really quite pertinent! Why, just look at the years it covers!"

"Impossible. This predates Deiprelate Yugi. It's obviously false," Seto responded. He'd explained his previous conversations with Remiel and Azrael on their way to Lortosia and since then Sagaelen had been trying his utmost to help. Nevertheless, he treated the situation like a game and it annoyed the prince.

"Before you brush it aside, Seto-b… prince," he deliberately rubbed his jaw, "I'd like to read you an excerpt. Ahem. _Great developments were being made in the construction of Solitage, but there were those that were becoming uneasy… Certain members within the Human Experiment were beginning to state that the existence of the Gods was an impossible fallacy…_ I'm paraphrasing a little to make the dialect understandable but… Well?"

Seto snatched the book from the sage and scanned the page. "Human experiment… exactly the words Remiel used…"

With a triumphant smile, Sagaelen snatched the book back and read on. "_As a result of this lack of faith, Oa and Ui asked Ae_… do those names mean anything to you?" Sagaelen asked. Each name, though only two letters, was pronounced as two syllables. They were distinctly foreign, seeming nothing like the types of names common in Kaiba.

"Venyoran?" Seto suggested as he began to buy into the possibility the book could be legitimate.

Sagaelen shrugged. "_Oa and Ui asked Ae to create avatars the could be used to ensure the doubtful humans of their existence._ Deities, then. _Ae was hesitant, but he began to craft the bodies his brothers had requested. The humans continued to toil in ignorance, and certain members of the experiment began to invent stories of other deities. Ui became furious and destroyed the capital at Abane with a great thunderstorm, giving birth to hundreds of Lightning Congers. A great fire erupted from the city and scorched the earth. So great was the fire that those around harnessed the powers of the Destroyer Golems to build a great ridge of earth to stop the spread of the fire. The scorched earth was parched, and the ridge prevented any rain from reaching it. This was the birth of the Cur Desert…_"

"Well, it's obviously mythology," Seto commented, glancing down the corridor as though he expected someone to be watching them. "But all mythology has some basis in reality. I doubt these deities, Ae, Oa and Ui, exist, but the human experiment seems to have some factual application."

With a slight nod, Sagaelen glanced back at the tome. His face was grim, and he seemed to be lost in thought for a moment. Just as quickly, however, a bright smile crossed his face. "I'll just keep reading, then!" he chirped.

Seto ran a hand through his hair and cast a disdainful glance toward his companion. "You do that. I'm going to go see about getting us off this rock."

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Nearly an hour later Seto found himself standing in front of the greatest junk heap ever to have purportedly taken to the air. It had only two lodepanels, silver lustrous sheets that were used to create loft, and both were tarnished with age. The body was sleek, but it wouldn't likely hold more than the four of them. It was designed for three, so even their weight might prove too much for the flimsy craft. Instead of the powerful air-jet engines that propelled the lodeships that Seto was familiar with, a single large propeller served as the ship's propulsion. It would need a few hours of work before it could take to the air, but it would have to do.

"How much?" he asked the portly man standing not far away. It was the man who'd led him to the ship, saying that it was an old craft that had crashed nearby. He'd claimed that he'd restored it, but by the look of the wreck he hadn't finished.

"Two thousand."

"Mokus?" Seto gawked.

"You know of another currency?" the man drawled.

In fact, he did. But, since the Venyoran Xeir had an exchange of roughly one Moku, he didn't bother bringing it up. "I'll give you twelve hundred, and that's twice what its worth. I'm going to have to spend the rest of the morning just making it sky-worthy."

The man blinked, but he had to admit that he had no idea what it was worth. "Okay," he answered slowly. Dismissively, Seto handed him the money. A lodeship, _any_ lodeship, was easily worth ten thousand Mokus. As he had expected, the backwater hick had no idea.

But that was no longer relevant. Now that the craft was in his possession, he would need to repair it. The lodepanels were covered in a film that he was sure would interfere with the reversal fields, and the engine was filled with a thick black sludge. He still wore only his trousers (the climate of the islands was certainly conducive), although his royal blade rested in its scabbard along his waist. The rest of his clothing was drenched and drying outside of the house his companions were staying in; even his wonderful cape.

With a sigh, he opened the bottom of the craft and began to work. With any luck, the ship would be able to fly by noon. If that were the case, they would most likely reach Venyore by the early evening. Then, the real work would begin.

A/N: I've begun to shed some light as to the schemes of Remiel and his ilk, and the rest should probably become clear once they reach Venyore. _If_ they reach Venyore. Muahaha. In any case, you should probably leave a review. It would likely protect you from the aforementioned grue.


	15. Taking to the Skies

A/N: All I can say is thank goodness for Newtype, or this chapter would never have been finished. I lacked inspiration for a while over this chapter, but I finally put something into words. Am I one hundred percent happy with it? No. Am I one hundred percent happy with anything? No. But here it is, nevertheless. Which also reminds me that I'm currently on a quest for a Beta reader. Anyone who is interested, let me know. Because otherwise, I won't. Seems logical enough. Also, new reviewer responses. At the usual drop point.

**Disclaimer**: Today is my birthday, so I called Kazuki Takahashi and asked him for the rights to Yu-Gi-Oh! He told me he'd sleep on it. Until I receive his reply, I still don't have 'em.

**Chapter Fifteen: Taking to the Skies**

With a groan, Damien rolled over on the bed. His entire body ached, and he was fairly sure his stomach made a sloshing noise from all of the seawater that had seeped in through the gaping hole in his back. Before they had left, the nurses had told him he would live. They'd administered two Red Medicines and a Goblin's Secret Remedy, and together they had closed the wound. Nevertheless, he was intensely nauseous.

But that changed as Serenity entered to check up on him. "How are you feeling?" she asked, distracted.

"Better, now," Damien answered, rolling onto his back and grinning at the red haired girl.

Serenity blushed, and busied herself fixing his pillows. "Are you able to walk? Seto thinks that we should be able to head out by noon, and that's in less than two hours. But, if you're not able to go…"

"You'd stay here with me?"

"We'd have to leave you behind."

"Oh," Damien answered, crestfallen. "I can walk," he added a moment later.

Feeling slightly bad about the look he'd given her after her reply, Serenity flashed the rogue a bright smile. "Good! I would have hated for you not to come with us."

Damien nodded slightly before relaxing into his bed. How humiliating! He had to remind himself that Serenity wasn't interested in a relationship. After she turned him down, with his roguish charm, that much was obvious. Besides, she'd just lost the last of her close friends. He and Seto were all that she had left in the world, as far as he knew. Romance could be pursued once they reached Venyore. In the meantime, he would focus on recovery.

There were no doors, or windowpanes, in the entirety of the island they were on. It was entirely open to the sea air, with windows barely covered by curtains and doors most often empty or, in cases where privacy was needed, having some variety of privacy curtains. The entire city was one large structure, a circular building made of white stone with simple white tiles composing the ground and a large courtyard in the centre; it was, in fact, quite simple in design, yet undeniably beautiful. Each person's individual yard was the section of roof their house possessed, and these sections of roof were put to good use. Large amounts of vegetation grew in every locale, out of planters and hanging pots. The warm sun and the sea air fed them, and they flourished and spread over the white, salt-encrusted structure.

Serenity made her way to the single large window in Damien's room and idly played with the leaf of a small plant on the sill. The ocean looked beautiful, sparkling under the rays of the sun in a shade of blue rivalled only by the perfect sky. It was spectacular. As she closed her eyes for a moment, she thought about how much she'd come to love Kaiba's game. Every vista was so breathtaking, every person so memorable. She'd made friends of people that didn't exist and at least as many enemies, and now she even had a pair of virtual suitors. How exactly did she feel about that? Damien was sweet, but he reminded her too much of Duke Devlin. It wasn't that she disliked Duke, but she couldn't see dating the man. And Seto was… well, Kaiba. He may have been somewhat more benevolent, but he was essentially the same person. She'd seen him be cruel, rude and ruthless. Despite that, she'd seen him be sweet and caring as well. Certainly, he'd never said anything to her to make her dislike him. And he was gorgeous. His piercing blue eyes complimented his neat brown hair and well toned body. And that fantastic posterior. But it was impossible. He wasn't a real person, and that's where the indulgent fantasy ended. It was one complication she didn't need in her life.

"What are you thinking about?" Damien asked, finally tearing himself from gazing longingly at her from behind. He'd originally begun pursuing her as a way to spite Seto. The prince obviously had feelings for her, despite his claims to the contrary. Even then, Damien had realized that the girl deserved better. Overbearing, rude and arrogant, the prince had never seemed like a particularly good companion. Pursuing Serenity seemed like a natural way to get back at the prince for treating the rogue like an invalid. But it had become more than that. He genuinely liked the girl. And she was certainly easy on the eyes.

"Nothing," Serenity answered with a smile and a bow. Quietly, she brushed through the door and into the hallway.

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"Prelate Azrael, it is confirmed. Uriel is within the city, along with the prince and the others they are travelling with. The lodeship is currently within two miles of the island. They have made no move to leave, and we are within visual range of the city. It is likely they are stranded," Serbane, captain of the blackguard, reported. The magical device carried his voice to Azrael's chamber in Sandalphon, from which the prelate was conducting the operation.

"They are not leaving? Good. Prepare the weapons," Azrael commanded.

"But sir," Serbane began, "Would it not be more prudent to use the summoner core?" The summoner core was a magi-mechanical simulant of a summoner that every royal lodeship was equipped with. They were able to summon more effectively than a high level summoner and required next to no cool-down. The summoner core was the reason the lodeships made such effective war machines; in a minute it could conjure an army.

"And what would you summon? You possess only one monster the prince could not best, and the Chaos Emperor Dragon would prove ineffective against him. No, ready the cannons instead. Level the city," he barked.

"But sir! There are civilians down there! Women! Children!"

"Do not concern me over the deaths of a few… humans. Charge the magi cannons and wipe them out. Sink the island if you have to, I want them dead."

"Sir, was it not Deiprelate Remiel's command not to kill the prince?" Serbane reminded him. Unsettled by the idea of such indiscriminate killing, he sought what seemed like the easiest out.

"Leave the interpretation of the deiprelate's orders to me. You will follow mine. That is all, Serbane," Azrael spat, ending the transmission. As he ran his fingers through his black hair, he glanced at the map on the table in front of him. With a long pen stroke, he scratched out the smallest of the Serendipity Islands.

"So I'm a disappointment, am I, Remiel? Well then, I'll eliminate Uriel. And if the Dragon Prince happens to be in the way, I can hardly be blamed for his destruction. It was ever so nice of King Bakura to provide us with the flagship. Now we'll see who decides fate, Dragon Prince."

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Prince Seto was not a fool, nor was he blind. The dark form on the horizon was the unmistakable flagship of the royal fleet. And, since the present king was nothing more than a politician Remiel had navigated to prominence, there was no mistaking its purpose. With the lodepanels cleaned and the engine prepared, Seto put the finishing touches on the craft. A sense of desperation overwhelmed him, but he knew the ship would have to close to range before the summoning core would be useful. He had a few moments to gather his comrades.

Even as he thought this, a bright flash emitted from the dark form of the craft. "No," Seto muttered as he recognized the discharge. A whistling noise pierced the air, the light grew larger, the sun dimmed for an instant. The charge hit the outer wall of the island, shaking it to its very core. Blue-green flames leaped from the point of impact. As the seared the white stone black, numerous flashes followed. The world stood still. The cannons fired anew.

Leaping from the roof where the lodeship was parked, Seto charged along the identical roof platforms of the town's houses. Energy pulses screamed past him, striking in the centre of the town. Energy pulses rocketed above him and ploughed through windows and doors, incinerating the insides of the buildings they struck. Seto ran. Blue-green flames surged within the town, and the prince leapt from the roof into the narrow alleyway between houses. Slowing his fall by leaping between structural wooden supports, he hit the ground running. His feet carried him fast around the corner, but he was forced to throw himself backward as a charge struck ahead of him. Propelled by a leap over the scorching hot crater, he carried himself to the centre of the town.

Amidst the fire and ruin of the increasingly abandoned town square, Serenity stared in shock at the black form of the firing airship. Rounds streaked beside her, and burned above her as the myriad cannons of the airship made rubble of the town. Blindly propelled by the insistent force of pulsing adrenaline, Seto snatched her from the spot she stood even as a screeching charge struck the point. Holding her by the hand, Seto dragged her towards the house they'd stayed in. They charged towards the door, and even as they reached it they were forced to duck beneath flying debris as the house next to it shattered under the force of a shot.

"Come on!" Seto barked, dragging her into the halls of the burning house. "This way!"

"Seto!" Serenity screamed to be heard over the wails of the falling missiles. "What's going on?"

The prince pulled Serenity into his arms and leapt forward, high over the remnants of a searing shot. Kicking off the wall, he propelled himself upward to the remnants of the second floor room. As he quickly set Serenity down, he motioned to the empty doorway next to the collapsed floor. "Find Damien and Sagaelen. They should be here!"

"Seto!" Serenity cried as her mind reeled from the sudden rush of events.

"Serenity! Hurry, there's no time!" Seto called back. He through aside the charred remnants of the bed and pulled his armour and cape from beneath it. Pulling them on, he snapped his deck box to his waist and quickly scanned his surroundings. The shots of the craft had destroyed either side of the building, and he had a clear view both of the aggressing craft and the remnants of the city. Fewer than half the buildings were standing, and of those most burned. The lodeship, almost exactly across the courtyard from the building he stood upon, remained miraculously intact.

"Prince!" came the gruff call that snapped Seto from his internal machinations. Damien, Sagaelen and Serenity had returned, although Damien leaned heavily upon the girl for support. He'd been badly wounded in the battle with the Crab Turtle, and he had yet to fully recover. Seto waved them towards him.

Cavalierly, he tossed Serenity and Sagaelen to the roof adjacent the remaining section of floor in the building. As he clutched Damien to his side, he made the leap himself. Damien would have to be carried the distance; there was no avoiding it. The cannons fired again. "Serenity, Sagaelen! You'll have to follow me. It won't be easy, but if you can't do it there's not much chance we'll make it out of here."

"Alright. Princey-boy, we shall do our utmost," Sagaelen assured him.

The prince glanced over his shoulder and took a large step to his right. A missile scudded by and seared across the courtyard, ending its journey by exploding into the base of another building. It quickly collapsed into rubble. The prince nodded towards his companions and turned back towards the remaining structures that would, hopefully, provide a path to the lodeship. He broke into movement.

The prince leaped from remnant to remnant of structure, settling on rooftops or, where rooftops had been smashed into nothingness, second story landings. His moves were fluid, agile, and he easily outpaced the others. As he reached the lodeship and deposited Damien into the seat furthest back, he turned. Sagaelen was making some progress, and would arrive shortly. Serenity was hopelessly lost amidst the slabs of debris and rubble. The prince charged back. The cannons fired.

The blue-green flaming shot streaked forth from the cannon and dived through the sky. It drifted down, at breakneck speed, towards its target. Blind, yet guided by the winds of misfortune, the missile glided towards Serenity. The red-haired girl heard the scream of the shot before she saw its flames charging hungrily towards her. To dodge was impossible. Suddenly, the blinding blue-green light was eclipsed by a swirl of silver armour and blue cape. Seto leapt towards the missile, and his blade slashed forward, splitting the cannon shot in two. The flames seared forward nonetheless, biting his face and igniting the tips of his hair. Brushing aside the bite of the projectile, Seto grabbed Serenity and leapt quickly to the failing roof that held their escape. Unceremoniously, he deposited her atop Sagaelen in the second seat before leaping into the first himself.

His hands worked furiously at the controls, and the lodeships surged to life. Slowly, it lifted from the rooftop and sprang into the sky. The engine flared, and then the ship shot forward. Wind blasted past the uncovered cockpit. The ship flew.

"Unbelievable," Seto muttered to himself as he surveyed the city below. Part of him wished there was more he could do to save the residents of the small city; it was he who had brought their destruction to them. Nevertheless, it was useless to dwell on it. Another volley of shots from the flagship drove into the side of the town, undermining the rock wall that composed the outer barrier of the city. Robbed of its supports, the weight of the structure overtook it and more than half the city collapsed into the surf.

"Do you think they'll notice us? Seems to me we're little more than a speck to them," Sagaelen called to the prince.

"Definitely," Seto replied confidently. "They'll be activating the summoning core momentarily. Their massive ship may not be able to catch up with this thing, no matter how lousy its engine is, but their monsters will."

"Oh my! And whatever _will_ we do then?"

"As soon as I figure that out, you'll be the first to know."

Seto heard the telltale hiss of the summoner core as it whirled into action. He heard the repeated burst of monsters springing into being not far behind them. Dark Bats flew passed the craft and wheeled around to face it. Winged monsters flooded the air around the craft, and earthbound monsters readied themselves in the rubble not far behind. It was time for a plan. Seto didn't have one.

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"Commander Serbane, there's another ship on the radar!" one of the crewman yelled to be heard over the sound of the raging fire not far ahead.

"Thank you, ensign. I'm already aware of the ship that we are _chasing_," Serbane shot back, his hands tightening on the arms of the commander's chair.

"No, not that. This one's… bigger."

"How much bigger?" Serbane asked. Fear had crept into his voice, and he scanned the horizon for signs of the ship.

"About… twice our size, sir," the crewman replied.

"Oh. That's not good."

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"Prince, what is that?" Serenity called over the rush of the air passing the ship.

Seto cringed as the pale blue, sleek airship came into view. Ornate designs ran across the surface of the craft and were even painted onto the black-tinted glass of the bridge. Massive lodepanels like sails hung on either side, and powerful air-jet engines drove the ship faster than even the light craft Seto piloted. "That," he called back, "is a real lodeship, built by the people that invented them. And now we're going to get to see what a real summoner core can do."

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"My lady, we're now within range of the battlefield. What is your command?"

Brushing her hair away from her face, the woman looked out the massive plate glass windows of the bridge and surveyed the field of combat. Already, the town had been all but wiped out. Half of the town had collapsed into the sea, and the other structures were either rubble or ablaze. That rubble was fast becoming projectile weapons as a mass of giants and similar duel monsters assembled on the island. "Activate the summoner core, use the unsummon sequence," she barked, with a voice both soft and melodious.

"Aye," the first mate replied, and relayed the command to the weapons officer. A moment later, a pale white light emitted in a pulse from a small spherical protrusion at the bottom of the lodeship. As the pulse struck each duel monster is blinked out of being, leaving little more than a flash of light and a wisp of smoke behind.

"Now, prepare to fire the auxiliary cannon along the left flank of that royal lodeship on my command," the silver-haired captain shouted.

"Aye!" the mate called back, relaying the message to the weapons officer.

A moment passed in stillness. The larger lodeship drifted to the right, slowly coming into line with its intended target. The royal lodeship drove forward, perhaps unaware of its impending fate. A moment of peace, a pregnant moment, passed and then the illusion was shattered. "Fire!"

Energy crackled in the air as the large, thin cannon hanging just below the port lodepanel drew in the requisite power. Then, in a flash of pale green light, it released it. Streaking through the air, in flew true to its target. As it slammed into the side of the royal flagship, steel panels and wooden skeleton was torn away like leaves in the wind. The ship lurched away from the beam, but the wound was mortal. Even before the energy from the beam had dissipated, the ship had already begun its inevitable descent. When it slammed into the remnants of the island it had destroyed moments earlier, its skeleton crumpled against the unrelenting stone.

"The ship has been crippled, commander. Should we finish it off?"

"No. Let us shed no more blood today. The strike was a success; we eliminated the threat while killing as few as possible. Retrieve the craft and then let's head home," the commander replied, relaxing into her chair.

"Oh, Seto, what would you do without me?" she murmured to herself as an afterthought.

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With a few simple keystokes, Kaiba deactivated the rendering program and relaxed into his own chair. He brought his mug to his lips, but didn't drink. Instead, he sat, staring at the black screen. He had no interest in seeing _that_ woman, even if he had put her in the game. There was something unsettlingly familiar about her.

Kaiba had agonized over whom to put into that precise role for some time, and finally he had found a model. Not from someone he had met, or from the actors who had auditioned to be used as a character model. Instead, he had woken up in the middle of the night and simply had an image. It had taken him four hours to program the woman into being, and the level of detail was startling; especially considering that he had dreamed the woman up.

Even her personality had come easily to him. In fact, in-game personalities were unknown before the character was inputted. However, he had no second thoughts or doubts about the principles and values he instilled in the woman. For whatever reason, they flowed as naturally as the image had. He'd had to reference a model and actor database as well as assaulting government records with photo-recognition software in an attempt to find out who the woman was. According to all of his research, she didn't exist.

The morning after he had placed her into the game, and the rest was history. Nevertheless, he could hardly stomach the woman. It was too eerie… too strange, too… something Yugi and his cohorts would rail about. No, he had no interest in seeing the woman. It was only too bad he couldn't stop dreaming about her.

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"Well… that was quite the rescue," Damien muttered as the giant lodeship closed in on their tiny craft.

"Wow, you bet!" Sagaelen chirped, "Another successful adventure in the exploits of Sagaelen and Princey-boy!"

"You're exploiting the fact that I can't hit you from here," Seto muttered.

"You bet!"

"Just… who is that, Se-, err, prince?"

Seto rubbed his temples. "You don't have to call me prince. If you'll recall, I'm not one anymore."

Serenity chuckled nervously. She did recall, but she hadn't wanted to press any sensitive spots with the prince. Images of him bellowing at a royal messenger flooded her mind, and she knew he wasn't the sort she wanted to offend. "Besides," Seto added a moment later, "You had no trouble calling me by my name a few minutes ago."

Again, Serenity let out a nervous chuckle. That was true, but in the heat of the moment things came out differently. He hadn't even cared when Sagaelen had called him Princey-boy. "Fine, _Seto_, who is that?"

"That craft belongs to the Venyorans, as you should know, the inventors of the lodeship. It is a modified Tenchi class warship that is used primarily as a transport. As to who it belongs…" the prince trailed off as their small craft floated into the docking bay of the much larger craft. It settled slowly on the ground, and a pair of thick metal doors entered. From within the craft stepped a woman dressed in long, flowing white robes. She had long silver hair that veiled her strikingly blue eyes. Radiant, she drew attention away from the rest of her large entourage.

"It belongs to her, the Empress of Venyore. My fiancée."

A/N: Ever have a story run away with you? This chapter wasn't meant to be like this at all. Originally, it was… quite a bit different. But, that chapter refused to be written. This one didn't. I like this one. Next chapter, I promise, I'll begin the process of making all things clear. In the meantime, you should probably review. It would be the expedient course of action.


	16. Force and Counterforce

A/N: Here we go again. First off, I've got to give another thanks muchly to my new beta, Tawnykit. Bailed me out on terrible latin grammar, in any case. In any case, I should point out that the Empress of Venyore _is_ meant to be modelled on Kisara. The problem is, of course, that there's no one in the story to make that observation, so it doesn't fit well into the narrative. But she is, rest assured. Besides that… new reviewer responses on my profile page. That's all.

**Disclaimer**: Apparently, when Kazuki Takahashi said, "I'll sleep on it", he was being sarcastic. So, still no rights.

**Chapter Sixteen: Force and Counterforce**

"Your what?" Serenity gawked.

"Fiancée," Seto replied, as though it should be obvious. Leaping out of the small craft, the prince bowed low to the white-garbed woman. She smiled brightly at him, her blue eyes twinkling as she called to him to stand. Obediently, the prince complied with her wishes.

Serenity simply stared. That _bastard_. Certainly, she had no romantic interest in the prince, but he had basically professed his love for her. And now, he was telling her that the entire time he'd been engaged to another woman? What a creep! And he expected her to act as though there was nothing wrong with any of it!

"So, Prince, who are your companions?" the woman asked. Her tone was melodious, cordial and sincere. As she spoke, she placed her arm inside the prince's. Seto glanced at the contact, but paid little heed to it.

"The woman atop the man in the second seat is a summoner by the name of Serenity. She hails from Venyore, as I understand. Beneath her is Sagaelen, a philosopher and sage of no mean intelligence. In the back of the craft is Damien, a former member of the blackguard, now repentant of that course. Serenity, Sagaelen, Damien, this is Her Majesty the Empress of Venyore," Seto explained coolly, in a court tone that the others hadn't heard from him before.

"Oh, Prince, when will you start calling me by name?"

"I could ask the same of you," Seto replied.

"It is not proper for a lady to call her lord by name," the Empress replied.

Attendants helped the group from the craft, especially Damien, and led them back to the main group. Serenity suppressed a gag at seeing the Prince with his bride-to-be; they seemed so much like a pair of old lovers. Courtly love, such a romantic concept! Small wonder to see it in Kaiba's perfect world; she had to wonder if Kaiba realized his prince had a roving eye.

"In any case," the Empress continued as she turned away from the group and back to her fiancé, "We can exchange pleasantries later. For the time being, we ought to set course for Excecial. I'd rather that we left the wreckage of that lodeship behind us."

"Actually, I'd like to double back to whatever's left of that town. Our ship went down after an attack from a Crab Turtle, and if the woman who found us hadn't taken us in we'd have been lost. I owe it to her to see to it that she survives or, at least, that her body is taken to be refined."

The Empress gave the prince a curious look, and then finally nodded her assent. "Do it. Turn the ship around and go back to the island. But you're going down there yourself," she added.

Seto flashed her a smirk. "I wouldn't have it any other way. Will I at least have air support if I need it?" he asked.

Making a show of giving a belaboured sigh, the Empress nodded again. "Fine, I'll give you air support too. You're more demanding than I remembered you."

"A lot changes in ten years," Seto replied, striding back to the open entrance of the docking bay.

The Empress' eyes followed after him, looking him slowly up and down. Unconsciously, she licked her upper lip. "It certainly does," she muttered to herself. Finally, she tore her eyes off of her fiancé and turned toward her latest guests. "Unless any of you plan on going with the prince, I'll be more than happy to keep you company until he returns."

"You're actually going to send him down there alone?" Serenity gawked, "But an entire lodeship full of enemies just crashed into that island!"

"The prince will be fine, I assure you. Those men will not be in the mood to fight, and if they are the prince will easily dispatch of them," the Empress drawled softly.

Serenity was beginning to understand why the prince had been looking elsewhere for romantic attention. The Empress was undeniably beautiful, but she was intensely cold. "Well, I'll go with him, then. He's going to need at least some help," Serenity insisted haughtily.

With a slightly quirked eyebrow, the Empress tilted her head and smiled slightly towards the smaller girl. "If that's what you wish. The rest of us are going to head back into the craft; my attendants will see to your injured friend," she assured them. With a single graceful motion of her hand, she guided her entourage back into the craft proper.

"I don't need your help, Serenity," Seto said coldly as the wind buffeted his face from the craft opening.

"What the hell was that, Seto?" she shouted back at him once the door was closed. The expression on Seto's face said it all as his confusion played across his features. "Oh, you know damn well. Were you just trying to jerk around with my emotions? You came on to me, and you were _engaged_? What the hell are you smiling at?"

Seto made an effort to wipe the smile off of his face and shook his head. "Nothing, I'm just amused at the fact that you're yelling at me when mere days ago you couldn't stand around me without getting all starry-eyed."

"I was not starry-eyed! I just didn't realize what a jerk you were!" Serenity shouted.

"No, I think you knew exactly what I was like back then. In fact, I think _this_ is you. All that niceness, that sweetness, is just an act. But just who are you putting it on for? If I had to guess, I'd say it was for your brother," he commented as he stepped towards Serenity. The small girl rocked back on her heels as she crept back from the imposing figure. "I'd say he wants you happy all the time, and so you've grown into this sweet little thing to pretend the world is great all the time. And because you did, that's what people have grown to expect you to be. And you certainly wouldn't want to disappoint them."

"You're wrong," Serenity shot back.

"Am I? I don't think you're sweet at all," he continued as he drew closer to her. With a slight sneer on his face, he leaned in towards her. "Deep down, I think you're angry and _screaming_ to get out."

A full blush crossed Serenity's cheeks as she stared at the tall, cold warrior. His blue eyes held hers, and for a moment she almost leaned forward. "Y-you're wrong…" she stammered.

He smirked. "Am I? Prove it."

Serenity almost missed the words. Why did he have to be so attractive? Oh, right, he was modelled after Japan's most eligible asshole. Actually, he was closer to the colossal ass than she had originally assumed. Colossal ass? No, it was much nicer than that…

"No comeback? Nothing to shout at me? You disappoint me," he muttered as he turned and walked back to the entrance to the docking bay.

"Asshole!" she shouted at him as he strode away.

"Better, but it lacks originality."

"Argh! You egotistical, rude jackass!" she cried.

"Keep going."

"Ugh! You're an arrogant, pompous jerk who takes his prince complex a little too far. You treat everyone like garbage unless you want something from them, in which case you put on your nice little noble façade…"

"Façade?" Seto gawked, clear surprise on his face. "Little mirror girl, of all the things I've been one of them is not false. If I'm curt with those who are of no use to me, it's because I find their presence irritating. If I'm 'noble' towards you, it's because you might just be one of the few people in the world who deserve it."

"Oh, I deserve it, do I?" she shouted. "And did I deserve for you to lead me on while you were engaged?"

Lowering his eyes, the prince gave a sardonic smirk. "Of course, you're right. I owe you an apology for that. How should I phrase it? Sorry that my father engaged me to a girl that I'd met once when I was ten? Sorry that for one moment I gave up duty because I genuinely wanted something? How about 'sorry that you're probably the only person left alive that I can bring myself to genuinely care about'?"

Even as she felt her anger melting away, Serenity forced herself to steel herself against the prince. Why did she even care if he had tried to two-time her? He wasn't real! Even if he was perceptive, sometimes sweet and more than a tad charming, that was all a programmed personality. And even if he was hot, that was just a simulated ass. "Jerk," she muttered, finally.

A soft thud let them know that the lodeship had set down on the remnants of the island, and Seto hopped out of the craft and onto the still-cooling stone. Quickly, Serenity followed after him. The front half of the royal flagship had crashed into the courtyard of the island city; the back half rested in the retreating surf. Sounds of frantic repairs could be heard from within the craft, and a few of the soldier could be seen outside.

"The house is just across that flattened area. Thankfully, the ship missed it. Come on, let's go," Seto barked.

The two crossed the rubble reasonably quickly, and passed through a hole in the wall and into the kitchen. From there, it was reasonably easy to navigate their way over what was left of the hall and into the bedroom. There, half buried under a slab of wall, was the plain-looking woman that had scooped them from the water. Seto easily lifted the chunk of stone and extracted her, and then cavalierly tossed her over his shoulder.

"Oh dear… that poor woman…" Serenity muttered.

"We'll see to it that she's refined. Move it, we don't have time to waste on mourning," he ordered.

"Would it kill you to take a few minutes for the woman who saved your life?"

Seto gave a purposeful look in the direction of the ship wreckage. "You know, it just might," he sneered.

A shrug was the only reply Serenity could give. "Point taken."

Just as easily as they had come, the two began to exit through the rubble-filled hallways of the ruin. They found the same hole out of the kitchen and returned to the point at which they had been dropped. Sitting easily on the metal platform of the docking bay, Commander Serbane was waiting for them.

"A dangerous trip to make just to fulfill a moral debt, Dragon Prince," he drawled.

"Morality is not something I expect _you_ to understand, Serbane. After all, doesn't Azrael have it surgically removed from all of his blackguards?"

"Ah, touché. However, you can rest assured that I retain some semblance of that particular virtue. I've grown tired with following Azrael's edicts. Killing a bunch of women and children doesn't suit my fancy. What I'm here for now is a trade," he explained.

"You have my attention."

"Seto!" Serenity glared.

"Serenity, only a fool passes up an opportunity simply because it is a foe who provides it. Stultus creant novitas inimicum ex amicô. What is it, Serbane?" Seto replied.

"What I want from you is transport to Venyore. It is the only place I can hope to go to get away from Azrael and Remiel. What I offer you is something I very much think you need. Information," Serbane declared with a smirk.

"Done. Get in. No one comes with you," Seto barked.

"Seto! How can you cut a deal with this monster?" Serenity cried in disbelief.

"I'll do what I have to when it comes to stopping Azrael and Remiel. In the grand scheme, this means nothing," he answered flatly. With one brusque motion, he swept her into the bay and followed after. Moments later, they were in the air.

"But how can we trust him?" she persisted.

"Because he has no reason to lie. I hate him more than you do, but I'm thinking rationally. Get Damien and Sagaelen and find us a room to meet in. Serbane, don't make me regret my decision," he warned.

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"Okay, so where should I start?" Serbane asked. The warrior ran his hand through the short black stubble atop his head and placed his black-booted feet onto the table in the room they occupied.

"Let's start with what matters most. Why does Remiel want to summon the Forbidden One?" Seto began.

"To be honest… I don't rightly know. I don't think anyone except for the Council of Prelates and the Deiprelate himself knows. What I do know is that it has something to do with what Remiel refers to as the 'human experiment'. Originally, I thought that phrase applied to the human race, but I'm beginning to doubt that."

"Why?" Serenity pressed.

"Because, his plans seems to bridge on everyone involved in the 'experiment' being killed. I don't think Remiel is genocidal. Maybe Azrael…" he trailed off.

"Wouldn't surprise me…" Seto interjected. "If you don't know what their intentions are, perhaps you can at least outline their plans for me. Far too many times now they've had the opportunity to kill me and haven't. Just now, you tried. Why?"

"Remiel wants you alive," Serbane answered simply. "He wants you to get the last of the cards for him and save him the effort of locating them himself."

"But I have no intention of getting the cards. I intend to destroy the pedestals so that no one can."

"Ha! If you think that will work, you're more naïve than I thought. Those pedestals are laced with enchantments more powerful than you can begin to understand. You might as well try to level a mountain!" he scoffed.

Seto leaned forward in his chair opposite Serbane and glared dangerously at him. "And what makes you think I can't level a mountain," he spat through clenched teeth.

"Relax, prince. Trust me, no one is more impressed with what you're capable of than I am, but this is beyond even you. This is the work of Ae."

Quirking an eyebrow, Seto leaned back in his chair. "Ae?" he pressed.

"Right…" Serbane muttered, "You don't know. Publicly, Remiel and the council do all their talk about 'the creator'. Behind closed doors, they often refer to him as 'Creator Ae' or sometimes, 'Ae, the Birth Father'. Once, when he didn't think I was listening, I heard Azrael refer to him as 'Brother Ae'."

"Brother Ae?" Damien muttered to himself. As he leaned against the wall, the rogue's eyes scrupulized the blackguard.

"Alright. This is useful. What else?" Seto continued.

"Well, while we're still on the subject of the Forbidden One, I believe they also know its true name. I've heard them referring to it as 'Ui, the Juggernaut' or 'Ui Neco'," the blackguard offered.

"What about Oa? Have you heard them use that name before?" Seto pressed insistently as he began to find the tie he needed to what they'd already begun to put together.

"There's the Geroa Chamber in the palace at Sandalphon, but that's the closest I can ever recall hearing," Serbane admitted.

"Geroa Chamber? I don't recall ever seeing that," Damien chimed in.

Serbane nodded. "No, Uriel, you wouldn't have. I'm probably the only person not on the council, other than Remiel, of course, allowed anywhere near it. I've never been in, nor have I ever seen anyone go into it. Every now and then, however, one of the prelates will come out of it looking rather dishevelled. I have no idea what goes on there."

For a moment, Seto simply stared pensively at the wall. "Three deities… another dead end? Sagaelen, what do you think?"

"You want to know what I think, Seto-boy?" Sagaelen chirped.

Seto massaged his temples as he nodded. "Yes, in as few words as possible."

"I think that book I found may have more to do with this than we initially realized. Especially if they're calling the Forbidden One Ui."

"I agree. Reread it and see if you can catch any more salient details," Seto ordered. Sagaelen nodded and quickly departed from the room.

"I suppose it's time that I shared what I know," Damien muttered. "I'll start with what happened after the assassination attempt eleven years ago." Everyone turned their attention to Damien. The man had pushed his way off the wall, and resolutely met the gaze of his comrades. "I was eight, and my brothers and I were being trained by Azrael. He was in some speech about the nature of the elite when an arrow from somewhere behind him pierced his heart. His disappeared in a flash of white light. Two hours later he returned to continue our lesson."

"The same thing happened when I fought Raziel. I hit him, fatally, and instead of dying he disappeared in a flash," Seto cut in. "More of the same? But then, if they can't be killed normally, what _are_ the prelates?"

"I might be able to shed some light on that, too," Damien replied. "I… Serbane, what's wrong?"

Serbane clutched his head tightly and lurched in the chair. He cried for help as he fell back in the chair and rolled until he struck the wall. Lurching to his feet, he moved toward the prince. "Serbane? What's going on?" Seto shouted.

Rolling his shoulder, Serbane pounded against Seto's side and knocked him back. Even as the prince reeled from the unexpected blow, Serbane lunged after him. With one deft move he snatched the prince's blade from its scabbard and drove it deep into Damien's chest, stapling him to the wall. It took Seto that moment to regain his composure, but he readily wrapped both his hands around the blackguard's neck. Then, giving a bestial yell, he pressed his right hand against Serbane's chin and pressed. A moment later he was rewarded with a sick snap. Serbane slumped onto the floor.

Serenity had already rushed to Damien's aid. Nevertheless, the wound seemed certain to be fatal. Damien gasped for breath, and each gasp dug the blade deeper into his chest. With a single great motion Seto ripped the blade from his chest and sheathed it. "Careful! You'll hurt him…" Serenity murmured.

"It would have hurt him more to leave it. Come on, they're sure to have a doctor aboard this ship," he commanded. Even as he did, the door swung open wide.

"Prince!" the shipmate cried, "Our sensors just alerted us of some magical intrusion into the ship."

"What kind?" Seto called back.

"Someone used a Brain Control magic card on someone in this room."

Seto looked once to his left, and once to his right. On either side was a man that was going to prove an invaluable source of information. One was dead, the other dying. "Get Damien to the infirmary," he muttered.

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"Why is it that so many people feel the need to try and leave my company? Don't they realize that I have nothing more in mind that their own well-being? Sure, my methods may be…"

"Needlessly cruel?" Raphael offered.

"Not unless you're needlessly benevolent," Azrael replied. "You're nicer than Chamuel and he's basically the embodiment of love."

"True, but love can be heedless in the pursuit of its goals, and love can be… tough. My only objective is restoration. When all that must be restored is restored, I will be content to hope for the healing of all things. Deaths don't suit me. Deaths suit you."

"True enough, true enough. Anyway, it's done. Serbane, the traitorous dog, and Uriel are both taken care of in one fell swoop. Because I'm just that good. I've nicely tied up all my loose ends. Remiel has nothing left to berate me for," he gloated.

"Except the needless deaths of over a dozen innocent citizens, the destruction of a town and the royal flagship, the stranding of almost two dozen royal guards…"

"There's no such thing as needless deaths," Azrael interjected. "And even Remiel will support me in that there's no such thing as an innocent human. Those within the experiment are blind, deaf and above all hedonistic. Justice will be karmic," Azrael finished.

"Karmic? If justice is karmic, then what are we entitled to?" Raphael countered.

"We act with impunity. Honestly, you speak as though we were within the experiment ourselves! Perhaps you harbour too much empathy for them."

"Empathy?" Raphael gawked, "No. Sympathy, perhaps. Pity, even, but not empathy. I can neither understand nor endear myself to those pathetic beings beneath us. I can only be reviled by them. You can trust that I have no doubt in _our_ chosen course. Only yours."

"We cannot turn from our chosen course in any case. It is Remiel's edict."

"Too true. How many of our forbearers have pined for a Deiprelate such as he?"

Azrael smirked. "How many of mine, you mean. I doubt your forbearers pined for what Remiel plans. It will be you who will come to the forefront after all this chaos is over. Once the experiment is ended."

"All we've lacked all these years is the ability," Raphael added.

"We certainly haven't been devoid of the inclination," Azrael agreed.

"And now the time has come," the red-haired prelate declared.

Azrael rose from the table and nodded. "Time for completion, and for fulfilling our craving of so long. Raziel has located the last two shrines and we are sending out the fleet. Jophiel retains order and the will of Remiel in Cobalt. Phanuel remains occupied with the regeneration of humans and Chamuel is fervently seeking the piece we yet lack. All is progressing smoothly."

"Our exposed weakness has been removed, and the Dragon Prince and the others flounder in the dark. It is a good day indeed. Now then, to our work, and to the fulfilling of the Birth Father's will. Brother Ae's will."

"And woe to those who oppose us."

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"The opposition?"

"That's right," Fallacian answered confidently, resting his elbow on the large wooden table in front of him. The metal clinked against the hardwood, and Fallacian's grey eyes met General Shale's deep brown. "Remiel is dangerous enough, but now that he has control over two thirds of the triumvirate, his word has become law. Intolerable. I'm going to need your support, Shale."

Shale played idly with his topknot of tightly bound brown hair, a nervous habit he'd picked up over the years. "What about Raziel? Surely he won't be oblivious to your plans for long."

"Bah!" Fallacian grunted. "He's been oblivious so far. I already have nearly half of the royal guard in my fold, and almost a quarter of Kaiba's army. With such a force, even the blackguard would easily be wiped out."

"And if word were to get to Remiel he would have us gutted like swine. Is that what you're looking for, warlord?" Shale replied.

With one forceful motion, Fallacian drove his dagger into the hardwoord table. "No! We keep the council and Remiel oblivious, and we can manage this coup. I'm not saying we just defeat the blackguard, or the holy guard. I'm suggesting a total takeover, the destruction of Sandalphon and the conquest of the throne. Unify the country under one strong arm."

"Strong arm is right, but only as a way to describe your tactics. Warlord, the people won't stand for it! Thousands of pilgrims travel to Sandalphon every year. They believe in the creator, and in the church."

"The throne then," Fallacian suggested. "No one cares about this politician, Bakura. A coup d'état to overthrow the king, and regain control of the triumvirate."

Shale sat in silence for a few moments, before finally shaking his head. "No. Such an open crime… would not go unpunished."

"Bah! I invite their punishment. With half of the royal guard and the entire army at my command, no one in Kaiba could touch me. All we need is control, and I can hold it. All we need to do is grasp this opportunity…"

"Warlord!" Shale scolded, "You would lead open battle into the streets of Cobalt, and risk the citizens? I can agree with your sentiment, but I will not support it unless we can find a way to avoid combat in Cobalt. Get the holy guard out, and my soldiers will follow your banner."

"I have your word?"

"Don't think you're the only one tired of Remiel and his followers. They have too much power, and are too ready to use it. We'll aid you. But I won't risk Cobalt, and I won't risk urban warfare with the holy guard," Shale affirmed.

"Then we have a deal," Fallacian replied.

A/N: "Stultus creant novitas inimicum ex amicô" means "Fools make new enemies out of friends". For those of you that don't speak latin. In any case, that wraps it up for this chapter. Next chapter, expect all types of chaos. Well, unless one of the sideplots ambushes me and takes over most of the chapter. While you're waiting, might I suggest you try one of our delicious after-dinner mints? I mean, might I suggest writing a review? Y'know, or the mints.


	17. Sowing Seeds of Discord

A/N: Well, I didn't expect to have this chapter up so soon, but my beta worked in record time. As I promised, chaos. And more actual Kaiba. Hurrah! New review responses! Hurrah! 150+ reviews! Hurrah! Well… that about sums it up for what I have to say. So enjoy!

**Disclaimer**: Reports of my owning the rights to Yu-Gi-Oh! have been greatly exaggerated.

**Chapter Seventeen: Sowing Seeds of Discord**

"Mr. Kaiba? Mr. Kaiba?" the tech called, bringing Seto Kaiba out of his nap.

"What?" he snapped as soon as he came to.

"There are some men at the door. They say they're government investigators," the tech drawled.

"What do they want?" Seto muttered, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Sleep was hard to come by; that government agents had disrupted it was irritating.

"It's about… the AI, sir."

"Well then," Kaiba declared as he rose to his feet, "there's only one course of action."

"Right," the tech acknowledged. "I'll let them in."

Kaiba stared down his nose at the tech and arced an eyebrow. "No, lock the doors. And lockdown the building."

"What?"

"I won't have this test interrupted. Decline our guests' request and make sure they don't get in any other way. No way are they going to shut down my test over one glitch," he declared.

"Glitch? Sir, that's a life! You _created_ a li-"

Kaiba silenced the tech with a glare that dared him to continue. "I did not create a life," Kaiba corrected, "A life created itself. Now, send away the feds and lockdown the building before I fire you for insubordination."

"Yes sir," the tech muttered and quickly fled the room.

"They won't stand for this…" Mokuba warned as he watched the tech leave.

Responding with a great shrug, Seto sat back at his desk and began to reassess stats for the artificial body he was considering. "Who cares?" he muttered.

Mokuba broke a slight grin. His brother was as defiant as ever. "I'm pretty sure it's against the law," he warned, although he already knew what his brother's reply would be.

"I'm a billionaire," he answered simply, "I'll decide what the law is."

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"How is he?" Serenity asked cautiously as she slid through the infirmary door.

"Bad," the doctor replied flatly. "His injuries are extensive, and several of his organs are damaged. We don't have the ability to magically heal injuries of this magnitude. No one does."

"Someone does," Seto corrected as he entered behind Serenity. The girl spun to face the prince, who paid her little notice. "If Her Majesty has a fast lodeship to spare, we might even be able to get her here in time to save him."

"Who?" the doctor asked incredulously.

Finally, Seto cast his eyes down on Serenity. "The Countess of Landstar. She is the greatest healer in the world. Good looking too."

Serenity smirked at the comment and sat down on one of the infirmary beds, clearing room for the prince to enter. Of course, the Countess of Landstar had been programmed based on Serenity's appearance; they were identical, and so it was a loosely veiled compliment. Still, the grim situation allowed little room for mirth. "Will we be able to retrieve her in time?"

"You're asking the wrong person," Seto replied. "Doctor, how long does he have?"

"Best guess?" the doctor offered, "Three hours."

Seto shrugged. "Let's find out. The Empress should be on the bridge."

As Serenity rose to her feet, she gave a slow nod. She didn't like the Empress. Perhaps it was irrational jealousy, or perhaps it was simply that she was eerie, but the silver-haired woman set her off guard. Nevertheless, she followed Seto down the exquisitely detailed white and gold hallways of the lodeship. Eventually, they entered through a large open doorway into a room lined with gigantic windows. The view below was startling; trees beneath them spread almost infinitely, broken only by slight peaks of moss-covered stone. In this distance, the tops of light blue towers could be seen rising above the emerald wood.

The room itself was almost entirely silver. Each wall was lined with instruments, attended by more than a dozen ship hands. In the centre of the room was a simple black chair. In it sat the Empress, raised a good deal above her crew by the height of the chair, surveying the room itself.

"Empress," Seto called as he entered. He kneeled, lowering his head, before rising to stand before her. Serenity attempted a curtsey that came across as somewhat awkward. "I've come to make a request of you."

A grin was the reply he received. The Empress brushed some strands of long silver hair away from her face and looked down at the prince. "Anything. What would you ask of me?"

"One of our friends was badly injured in the magical intrusion not long ago. I'm assured the injury is beyond your doctors and healers. What I want is to send a lodeship to the Luminescent Forest in Kaiba to retrieve the Countess of Landstar and bring her here," Seto explained.

A cloud crossed the Empress' face and she placed a hand on her chin. "We haven't sent a lodeship into Kaiba ever before. You know this. Relationships between our two nations have ever been tenuous. Your father had sought to solve that with our engagement, as I recall," she added with a smile. Seto averted his eyes. "To do so now would not be received well, I think. I understand that your friend's life hangs in the balance, but I cannot comply with your request," she answered.

"But… that's heartless!" Serenity cried.

"Silence," Seto hissed through clenched teeth.

"You'd sacrifice someone's life to avoid political discomfort? Remiel's too caught up with his search for Ex-, for the Forbidden One to do anything about it. And Fallacian is Seto's friend, right? So why won't you do anything!" she cried.

"Serenity!" Seto scolded, his eyes pleading. He turned his gaze toward the fiery redhead. "Be respectful! You speak to the Empress of Venyore!"

"No! I won't be silent and let Damien die. You have to do something Empr-"

"I would like nothing more to help you, believe me. However, I wouldn't risk giving the Deiprelate an excuse to violate our soil. As it stands, two shrines remain safe from them in Venyore. If they had our violation of Kaiba territory to use as an excuse, they would be able to reach those shrines easily. This is in the best interests of everyone," she stated with a tone of finality.

Seto bowed low again. "I understand, Empress."

Furiously, Serenity shook her head. "Everyone except Damien," she spat, and stormed off of the bridge.

"Forgive her," Seto muttered as he watched her go. "I implored her to state what she feels instead of acting unnecessarily sweet. Apparently, she took my advice."

"Don't trouble yourself," the Empress replied. "I rather like her spirit."

Seto smirked and gave a nod, before finally pursuing Serenity down the hallway.

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"So you are…" the Bandit Chief led.

"An envoy from someone who requests your services," the cloaked man replied.

Chief Joseph scratched his head as he shifted on the uncomfortable stone throne. "Services? We ain't mercenaries, y'know. And we sure don't rent out our 'services.''. We're bandits. We do as we please."

From beneath his hood, the envoy gave a wry grin. "Well, that's what this is all about, isn't it," he replied. "You are brigands, true, but you are also rebels of a sort. And this is about rebellion."

"Against who?" Joseph replied, aghast. "Prince Seto? Hey, I'm all there, but good luck beating the guy."

"No," the envoy answered levelly. "Prince Seto was banished for the murder of his father. A murder he was innocent of, but it was the excuse Remiel needed to remove him from the throne. The new king is named Bakura. Hm…" he murmured to himself as he took in the dark interior of the cave. "I guess this lends truth to the phrase, 'living in a cave'. All of this occurred days ago, long enough that you should have received word."

"Yeah, well, like you said. I live in a cave. Don't care much for whatever's going on out there. Dis King Bakura, he a bad guy?"

"He's a puppet, a tool of Remiel. No king, that's for sure. We're seeking to supplant Bakura and install a King who will get something done," the envoy answered.

"Who?"

"That information comes with your agreement to join with us."

The Bandit Chief stroked his chin and looked back and forth between his camel-clad advisors. "Our numbers are large enough to be able to spare a dozen archers or so. For the right price, we could participate," the first postulated.

"Our coffers do run low. Fewer merchants choose the desert over the longer route anymore," the second agreed.

"What's your price?" Joseph asked.

"Fifteen in advance, another thirty on completion," the envoy replied.

"Thousand?" Joseph gawked.

"Yes."

"Mokus?" Joseph continued.

"Yes…"

"Done. Now, who's dis guy?" the Bandit Chief asked.

The envoy cast a leather sack at the chief's feet. "Warlord Fallacian," he answered.

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Seto finally accosted Serenity in the hall and grabbed her arm. "What?" she snapped as she wheeled around and glared at him.

"Where are you from?" he asked brusquely.

"I told you already, Venyo-"

"Don't lie to me again. No one from Venyore would have talked to the Empress in that manner. Now, where are you from?"

Serenity glared at the prince. Some nerve, he had! "Yeah, well, better then your gushing, bowing, 'thank you ma'am' crap."

"You're dodging the question!" Seto yelled. With one harsh motion he slammed her against the wall and drew closer. "Where?"

Trying to meet the prince's gaze, Serenity glared into his blue eyes. They were aglow with anger, but also with a certain degree of tenderness. Finally, she relaxed slightly. "I'm not from Venyore," she admitted. "And I'm not from Kaiba."

"That I gathered," the prince answered softly, relaxing his bruising grip on her arm. "The Serendipity Islands?"

Serenity paused, scanning Seto's face and shifting uncomfortably. "No…" she muttered finally.

As he relaxed his grip a bit more, he met her eyes and his gaze softened. "Then where else is there?"

Stammering to find an answer, Serenity's eyes shifted away. "Well… you wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Try me."

"I'm… from a country called Japan. The city where I live is called Domino," she answered.

"Japan? Domino? I thought those places were just myths…" Seto muttered.

"Myths?" Serenity blinked.

"Yeah. They say there was once a warrior who claimed to be from Domino, Japan travelling in Kaiba. I'm named after him. He called himself Seto, and he was incredibly powerful. There's a canyon in the Segregos Mountains that is said to have been caused by one of his sword strikes. But I always thought he was mythological. You've been there? You're from there?" he pressed.

"Um… yeah," she admitted.

Seto's eyes scanned her own, and he finally decided she was telling the truth. He let her go and stepped away. Suddenly, Serenity found herself missing his warmth. It was fortunate Kaiba seemed to have programmed a failsafe against people revealing where they were from. She didn't want to have to explain to Seto that he was a program. What would he have thought? He would probably think she was crazy. On the bright side, that would probably make him lose interest in her. He was undeniably attractive, and he seemed to be chipping away at her resistance.

"Anything else you want to share while we're at it?" he asked.

Serenity thought for a moment before finally shaking her head. "No… that's the only thing I've been lying about," she answered.

"I hope that's true," Seto replied. "One more thing," he added after a moment's silence. "Don't ever talk like that to the Empress again. Though it bothers me, we have to respect her will. Respect is very important in Venyore, and she could easily have you killed.""

"She would not!" Serenity cried.

Seto shrugged, and turned back down the hallway. Suddenly feeling in need of company, Serenity followed after him.

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Remiel looked incredulously at the small piece of black metal in his hand. He lifted it and looked beneath it, turning it around and scrutinizing its sleek surface. "This is it?" he asked. The question was directed at Raziel.

"Yes, Deiprelate. I recovered it from the sorcerer in Wood's Edge."

As he languidly placed the metal rectangle on the armrest of the throne, Remiel quirked an eyebrow at Raziel. "He just handed it over?" he asked, though he already knew the answer.

"Well, what's one town, anyway?" Raziel replied.

"Does it work?" Remiel asked, changing the subject.

"We received faint readings not long ago. The subject was detected near Lortosia. I sent a regiment of the holy guard to search the indicated area. With all luck, we will have the remaining piece we lack by sundown," the bald prelate answered confidently.

"And the cards? Have we retrieved them yet?"

Raziel shifted slightly, keeping his eyes on the dais Remiel's throne sat atop. "Well… our ships failed to receive clearance to enter Venyore. Their fleet easily surpasses ours, and to attempt to enter by force, unprovoked, would be folly."

"Then they'll just have to provoke us, won't they? Tell me, how susceptible is the Empress of Venyore to magical intrusion?. Do we need to attempt one of Phanuel's Brain Controls on her?" Remiel inquired.

"Well… the Empress is always either within one of her lodeships, which would easily detect the magical intrusion, or within Excecial Palace, which is shielded against such magic. In either case, Phanuel's abilities would be of little value," Raziel explained. "We have no way of knowing when she is briefly in between, so it seems that we have little ability to affect her."

"Then what would you suggest?" Remiel pressed.

Raziel replied with a smirk, "We let the will of the creator be done. We wait."

Nodding slowly, Remiel glanced out of the large windows of his throne room. "So be it. Oa and Ui united… what a mad dream I have had. Now all that is left is to realize it."

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The mooring lines drew the sleek white lodeship into the dock, while several hands tied off the ship. Shortly thereafter a plank was extended to the craft and its occupants disembarked. "Welcome to Excecial Palace, crown jewel of the Venyoran Empire. I assure you, you will be treated with all respect during your stay," the Empress declared.

"Of that I have no doubt," Seto replied. "Who are those two over there?"

He indicated a section of the dock where two people stood in wait for the Empress. The first wore a light blue top and a darker blue skirt, covered over by a long white cape. Her hair was a pale blonde, and her eyes a striking shade of purple. Beside her stood a man clad in black. Either shoulder was adorned with a metal pad pinning down his long black cape; his long hair was a similar shade of jet. Most notably, a strip of thick black fabric wrapped around his head, covering his eyes.

"Ah, those two. Meet Pacias and Naphar. Pacias is a spirit sorceress and Naphar is a-"

"Nocturne. I've heard of them before;, this is the first time I've met one," Seto replied.

"Really? He's a Nocturne?" Sagaelen exclaimed.

"Yes," the Empress of Venyore replied. "He's one of the best. Those two together serve as my personal escort, not that I've much need of one."

"What's a Nocturne?" Serenity asked.

"In Kaiba, the holy guard are both castrated and muted when they are assigned their position. This is because the church believes that copulation and speech are both abominable, since they create outside of the will of the creator. In terms of self-denial, the Nocturne are similar. They wilfully blind themselves from birth. They believe that the use of the eyes denies 'true sight'," Seto answered levelly.

"And so it does," Naphar called from the docking platform. "Although I would ask that you not compare us to your holy guard."

"I meant only that you both wilfully rob yourself of something. Although, between the two of you, the Nocturne are undoubtedly the more pious. Every morning you wake up, you choose to keep your blindfold on, while what the holy guard does is irrevocable," Seto explained.

As the Empress's entourage followed down the plank, Naphar strode to where Seto, Serenity and the Empress stood. Pacias followed behind him. "But you miss one thing. I scarcely miss my sight, for what I get in return is far greater. The holy guard gain nothing from their sacrifice."

"So you could argue," Seto agreed. "Except position. Most in the Holy Guard of Sandalphon are peasants that could not have bettered their position any other way. Many, after joining, find the reward not worth the sacrifice. But it can't be undone."

"True enough," Naphar replied. "Well met, Prince Seto of Kaiba. As you know, I am Naphar of the Nocturne. This is Pacias. You will pardon her if she does not speak. She rarely does."

"I understand. This is Sagaelen, and the girl is Serenity. You'll pardon Serenity if she does speak. She can be blunt," he quipped.

"Oh yeah, that means a lot coming from _you_, prince," she retorted.

Seto smirked at the short redhead. "The difference being that I know when to keep my mouth shut. Most of the time, anyway. I once yelled at the Deiprelate."

Sagaelen smirked. "You yell at everything, princey-boy. I believe I once saw you shouting at a rock," he recalled.

"It was a Giant Soldier of Stone," Seto protested.

The Empress covered her mouth to suppress a giggle and led the collected group into the palace proper. The structure had enormously high roofs, lined on either side by ornate tapestries. Veneered by coloured glass, the palace itself was crafted from heavy blocks of limestone. It was massive, the result of years of labour by varying types of golems. Finally, they came to a room taller than any they had seen before. It was massive, and large empty windows composed the vast majority of the massive walls. In the centre was a simple stone throne, occupied by a small blonde-haired girl.

"Regent Alufin, you may step down. I've returned," the Empress declared.

"About time. I've had about all I can stand of the chamber guards hitting on me," the blonde girl declared. Serenity stifled an out-of-place giggle. The girl was Rebecca Hawkins.

"Yes, well, you are dismissed. Get some sleep, would you?" she pressed.

"I'll get," she paused to yawn, "plenty of sleep when I'm dead."

The Empress giggled slightly. "But you need your beauty sleep," she commented.

Digesting that thought, the girl gave a slow nod. "You're right. Alright, I'm off then. Have fun."

Gracefully, the Empress swept around and seated herself atop the throne, smiling brightly at her companions. "Welcome to Venyore," she called, "You are among the very few people from Kaiba to ever set foot here."

"And we are honoured," Seto replied. "But it has been a trying trip. If you would allow us, I believe it would be best that we get some rest."

The Empress quirked an eyebrow and glanced out the gigantic windows of her throne room. "But it's barely dusk. I had hoped we would have a chance to catch up on… old times, prince," she protested.

Seto nodded in reply. "Very well," he acquiesced. "Allow me, first, to get my companions settled in. Assuming the guest rooms are where they used to be, I should be able to find my way there."

As she continued to stare out her window, the Empress gave a slow nod. "Very well. Don't be long though, will you?" she requested.

With another low bow, Seto escorted the others out of the throne room. As he strode down the hall, Serenity grabbed his arm. "Seto! I'm not tired, and I'd rather not be abandoned in some guest room in this palace."

"Good," the Dragon Prince replied as he turned away and continued down the hall. "Because I have no intention of going to those rooms. We're headed back down to the docking platform."

"Why ever would we do that?" Sagaelen cried, a little louder than he had intended to.

As he turned, Seto shot Sagaelen a wry grin. "Because you're going back to Kaiba."

"But Seto-boy!" Sagaelen protested.

"Don't call me that…" the prince muttered.

"What have I done? I've been good since we got in the-"

"I'm not punishing you, you idiot. You are going to retrieve the Countess of Landstar so that Damien doesn't die," Seto explained. "You're the only one besides me who can pilot one of these lodeships, assuming you still know how," he added.

"Well… yes, I do, but still…" Sagaelen whined.

"I thought you agreed with the Empress!" Serenity interjected.

"I said I understood," Seto clarified. "And I do understand. I respect her opinion. I'm merely opting not to comply."

Despite herself, Serenity grinned broadly. "I think I like this plan," she muttered.

While they descended the stairs into the docking platform Seto found an appropriate speeder. He quickly commandeered the keys and tossed them to Sagaelen, who reluctantly entered the craft. "Head with all speed to the heart of the Luminescent Forest," he advised, "Tell the Empress that the Dragon Prince and the little mirror girl ask for her aid, and bring her here. Make haste, Damien's life hangs on this."

Sagaelen nodded. "Alright, Seto-boy, but after this you let me call you whatever I want."

"Done," Seto agreed. Moments later, Sagaelen's speeder was gone.

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Idly fingering the brass chess piece in his hand, Fallacian glanced at the map. He'd acquired the services of nearly a battalion of mercenaries, numbering well over five hundred. It wasn't that he liked Shale's plan, but he couldn't deny that it held the best chance of success.

"Well, what do you think, warlord?" General Basalt asked cautiously.

"I hate it. But you're right. If we send in soldiers under our own banner, and if the plan fails, the coup would end there. Send half the mercenaries, a small expeditionary force, to accomplish the task. The holy guard has cleared out for some strange reason, and it's an opportunity we can't miss. Send the order," he acquiesced.

Shale and Basalt nodded in unison. "Yes, warlord. By your order," they replied.

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The platoon of holy guards strode over the final stretches of the Kaiba Plains. They followed the lead of Raguel, acting head of the blackguard in Serbane's inexplicable absence. Quickly, with light feet, they marched down the final descent and onto the cool sandy beaches north of Lortosia.

"He's here, no doubts," Raguel called to the eunuchs. "Begin the search. When you find him, bring him to me."

He was not kept waiting long. Moments later, several of the guards returned dragging a half-drowned youth. He was unconscious, and he reeked of burnt seafood. As he strode towards the subject, Raguel quirked an eyebrow disdainfully. "This is he? Hardly a whelp of a boy. I find it difficult to believe that he holds the key to Lord Azrael's objectives." Reaching into his flowing black cape, he produced the slab of black metal. Instantly it began to glow a faint green, growing stronger as Raguel brought the slab closer. "Still, there's no doubt about it," he admitted. "The device doesn't lie, or so I'm told. Bind him. We're walking back to Sandalphon."

Beginning its long march back, the platoon turned lethargically and noisily. Raguel wasn't sure what drew him, but he cast his eyes to the south. Beyond Lortosia, he saw a small black speck flying across the horizon. It troubled him for a moment before he dismissed it. He had no time to focus on such things, it was to be a long walk back.

A/N: Well, that's enough fun for this chapter. I foreshadowed enough that you should be able to guess what will happen in most of the next chapter, but it'll be a lot of fun nevertheless. I went a little bit crazy with the new characters too, but most of them will either have minimal roles or will die, or are necessary. Someday I'll go crazy with character death just to clean up my OCs… or not. By the way, did you know that the Surgeon General stated that eighty percent of readers don't leave enough reviews? Better get to fixing that.


	18. First Battle of Cobalt

A/N: This is my slowest update yet. I do, however, have an excuse. Terrorists called me and told me that if I didn't spend all of my spare time (and some time that wasn't spare) playing Dragon Quest VIII, they would kill some kittens. Obviously, I had no choice in the matter. Anywho… it's been way too long since I had a good action sequence. This chapter remedies that. I'm still not entirely pleased with it, by Tawnykit assures me the parts I'm iffy on are good. So, here goes! Oh, reviewer updates on my profile page for the last time. From now on, I'll reply when I get 'em through the system.

**Disclaimer**: I offered to trade Kazuki Takahashi the rights to a picture of a kitten wearing a top hat I drew in exchange for the rights to Yu-Gi-Oh! He declined.

**Chapter Eighteen: First Battle of Cobalt**

"The plan is elegant, exploiting the strengths of our foe as weaknesses," General Shale stated. "In groups of ten or less, one hundred of our mercenaries will infiltrate Cobalt and make their way to the main square. They will reach that point at approximately the same time as a train from Yugi's Pass comes into Cobalt, bearing another fifty of our soldiers. Once this occurs, they will have roughly twenty minutes to make their way to the northern gate of the royal castle. By the time they do, another force of ten score soldiers will be reaching the main gate of Cobalt. Hopefully, they will be noticed far enough away for the order to close the barrier wall to be given. This will prevent reinforcements from entering the city. Once this happens, the hundred and fifty soldiers within the barrier wall will launch their assault on the castle and take it, capturing King Bakura and ordering the wall opened so they we may march in and you may take control of the city, warlord."

Fallacian nodded throughout the plan. "Yes… I can see it working. It is already arranged?"

"Our mercenaries from the south have been contacted. They are mostly swordsmen, quite able, and they have some halberdiers. Those that will be filtering in to town in half an hour are our heavy infantry, making good use of spears and pole arms. They hail from Shrawn, and are an actually mercenary brigade. The motley crew composing our main force are the brigands from the desert, the assorted mercenaries that answered the guild call, and the covert soldiers. Everyone is in place, and the pieces have already begun to move," Shale assured him.

Again, Fallacian nodded slowly. "Very well," he sighed, "It's all I can do to keep myself from the battlefield, but I suppose we'll see the end of this conflict soon enough. It is now lacking six o'clock. The battle will be over before midnight."

Shale nodded his agreement, "For better or worse, it's out of our hands. General Basalt is moving to secure the necessary troops for the endgame moves. General Pyrite leads the mercenaries incognito. We must trust our allies."

"For better or worse," Fallacian echoed.

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Raguel's troops moved along the low ridge with uniform irritation. The cool rain that had begun to fall made the long walk even more miserable; the passenger in tow did not lighten their burden. The rain brought with it a light fog that greatly reduced their visibility, intensified by the setting sun. Perhaps that was why they almost marched into the mercenary army before they saw them.

"Stop!" Raguel hissed, and then for good measure, "Silence." The mutes looked at each other sceptically, and then turned to the troops ahead.

Raguel motioned to several of the platoon's scouts to move around and flank the troupe. As soon as they left he ordered his soldiers into step behind the passing mercenary army, hoping to keep pace and remain unnoticed. Moments later the first of his scouts returned. With quick, succinct hand gestures he communicated the intent of the mercenary troupe.

"Cobalt? A coup d'etat? You're certain?" he verified. The eunuch nodded, emphasizing his point with the force of his gestures. "Alright," Raguel replied. "Send a runner to Sandalphon to alert Lord Azrael of this latest turn of events. Send another ahead to Cobalt to warn the royal guard." Suddenly, he paused, lost in thought. "Damnit," he muttered to himself, "Our entire brigade of the Holy Guard stationed in Cobalt is in Solitage… they've been waiting for this."

As he stood in contemplation for a moment longer, Raguel sized up the situation. His twenty-five holy guardsmen would be nothing to the much larger force of mercenaries, and it was unlikely help would come from Sandalphon in time. Those manning the outer wall of Cobalt would not likely see the coming army through the fog. All his hopes then rested on the runner going ahead to warn the soldiers of Cobalt. On that, and the barrier wall.

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"Thank you for returning, prince. It's been too long since last we had the chance to talk," the Empress said.

Seto nodded, "Indeed. Ten years, now?"

"Ten years, although I don't doubt that you know I've been keeping tabs on you," she stated.

"I'd thought as much. We lack the resources to watch Venyore in Kaiba, but nevertheless I didn't forget you," he replied. "However, I don't really have time to exchange pleasantries right now. We're still searching for answers concerning the Deiprelate's plans and we need to find the final two shrines. I'd like to catch up with you, but time does not permit."

"But surely time can be made to permit for those such as us," the Empress quipped.

"I wish," Seto replied. "But unfortunately time doesn't follow the same laws as the common folk. Really, I want to talk to you, but it's nearly sundown and I need to find those shrines."

"Perhaps…" the Empress mused, "I can help you to that end. I have a sage here of some renown. He is the father of my regent, and he may be able to help you. He's familiar with lore that… predates what Kaiba studies, I think."

Seto quirked an eyebrow and contemplated the offer. "I'll meet with him," he decided. "Where is he?"

"Naphar!" The black-garbed Nocturne stepped out from behind the throne and tilted his head toward the Empress. "Take the prince to see Alufinus."

As the dark form bowed low, he muttered his assent. "As you command, Empress. Prince? If you will follow me."

Serenity, who had been half hiding behind Seto, turned to follow the prince and the Nocturne. "Miss Serenity!" the Empress called after her. "If I might speak with you a moment…"

"Uh… alright," Serenity muttered.

Quietly, Seto and Naphar left the throne room. Behind, still some distance from the throne, Serenity bowed low to the Empress. "He loves you, you know," she stated lightly once the other forms had departed.

Serenity blushed fiercely. Somehow, the Empress knew about the prince's feelings for her. What would she do? Would she have her executed? Banished? "M-more of a crush than love…" she stammered.

By way of reply, the Empress grinned slightly. "Prince Seto of Kaiba does not have crushes. Despite his often-cold exterior, he is quite passionate. If he's taken a liking to you, it's more than a fleeting crush. I can see I'm making you uncomfortable. I take it it's because he's my fiancé?"

Nodding slightly, Serenity cast her eyes upon the calm noble. "Yes… I know that no matter what he feels, we could never be," Serenity stated simply. Of course they could never be, Seto wasn't real. The Empress didn't need to know that, though.

"What about what _you_ feel? I've found you to be a difficult woman to read, Serenity. Do you reciprocate Seto's feelings?"

"I… no. Of course not," she answered.

"Why not?" the Empress prompted.

"He's rude, cruel and self-centred. He's a prince, but he's used to being treated like a prince. I don't have the time to teach him better," she explained, gathering confidence.

The Empress narrowed her eyes as she cast her glance down at Serenity. "That is untrue. When I was engaged to the prince ten years ago, I knew nothing about him. My father, the Emperor at the time, told me that a noble could grow to love the one he or she was forced to wed for his or her nation. He and mother had done it, and so could I. I believed him. Through our diviners I watched the prince, trying to force myself to love him. I needn't have bothered. The Prince is a man of integrity. He's brief when he needs to be, or with those he feels beneath his attentions. However, ultimately, he is concerned with everyone but himself. He blames himself for everyone that has suffered that he might have protected, every unanswered death in his kingdom. Willingly bearing an incredible weight, the prince is anything but self-centred. I grew to love him quickly. I still love him. I do understand that he does not reciprocate. It is a pity," the Empress declared. "I do find it interesting, however, that he chooses to centre out so much of his attention on you. It's not like him. I've only ever seen him lavish such attention on his brother, before his untimely death. He genuinely cares for you. If it makes you uncomfortable to call it love, don't. But be aware of this: the prince doesn't give his attention to those he considers beneath him. He does give his attention to you, although you're a commoner and a low-level summoner. That says quite a lot."

As Serenity listened, she slowly came to a realization. The Empress was right; she was beneath the Prince. He had a beautiful Empress that sought his attentions, and he pursued hers. Why? What did she have that made her so special? She'd pondered the same thing about Duke and Tristan before, but this was the first time she'd seen it in quite this light. Was Seto slumming? Was this his way of expressing pity for her?

"What's the matter?" Empress Venyore called, bringing Serenity out of her thoughts. "You look pensive. Have I said something?"

"N-nothing…" Serenity stammered. "May I go now?"

"Yes," the Empress replied levelly. "But think about what I said."

"I will," Serenity replied.

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Azrael stared at the messenger with more than slight disdain. Both Jophiel and Raphael stood off to the side, wondering what the cruellest prelate would do given the unfortunate news. "So?" he answered finally. "Why should that concern me? Two hundred soldiers attacking Cobalt! It's a fool's errand."

"Our garrison has left for the duchy of Solitage, you must recall," Raphael reminded Azrael. "And the royal guard has been almost entirely disbanded. Less than one hundred and fifty soldiers remain in its number, and more than half of those are with the royal fleet, which has been dispatched to the Serendipity Islands."

"And the royal guard are inept, compared to what the reports indicate about this group," Jophiel added.

Dramatically, Azrael rolled his eyes. "What difference does that make? I have a score of my blackguards in the city keeping a watch on the politician king. They could easily rout twice that number, unless we've seriously underestimated the foe," he boasted.

"Perhaps you overestimate the ability of your guard," Jophiel chided. "They are but men."

"Besides, it is possible this force comes at the bidding of the Dragon Prince. If so, they are likely more able than you think," Raphael warned.

"They do not come from the Dragon Prince," Raziel assured them, stepping out of the shadows in the eerie way he often did. "They are from Fallacian."

"Fallacian!" Raphael scoffed. "Impossible. That fool would never risk his neck on so ill-advised a gambit."

"He doesn't think he's risking his neck. The soldiers carry no banner, or so says the report. They are mercenaries, but they have a well-planned objective. They are working for someone wise who has a claim to the throne, for they know they cannot hold Cobalt for long with so miserable a force. The only logical conclusion is that Fallacian is testing the water for a greater plan, risking little on this initial gambit," Raziel explained.

Azrael stroked his chin, "As always, your perceptiveness is impressive, Raziel. So we intercept this force, then. Fallacian's troops are almost as much of a danger as the prince's."

"What force do we have that can make that distance in so short a time?" Jophiel inquired.

"None. I will go," Azrael offered.

"You will not," Raphael asserted. "You have been confined to Sandalphon by the order of Remiel. To defy that order would be impossible. Better to stay, prove your loyalty and bank some goodwill with the Deiprelate."

"Then who shall we send?" the dark prelate pressed.

"I will go," Jophiel offered suddenly.

"You?" Raphael asked incredulously. "I didn't know you were even capable of combat. Have you ever pulled your head out of your books long enough to study a weapon?"

"No weapons. I am an able summoner," Jophiel replied. "You ought to know that. I will eliminate the force. My Winged Dragon will easily carry me to the fray, and with my support the Holy Guard will easily overcome these mercenaries."

"Before you go, take heed of this. Fallacian is no fool, and he will have considered the risk of the closing of the barrier wall. Though a day with fog such as this would be ideal for a strike, considering that, I believe he will use the closing of the barrier wall to his greatest advantage. He will have more than this force planned. Capture their leader, or another, and interrogate him. We will see how much depth there is to this plan."

"Agreed. I go, then," Jophiel stated. He strode brusquely past the messenger, who stared confusedly at the prelates.

"Why are you still here?" Azrael snapped at the eunuch. "You've conveyed your message, return to your commander." The messenger nearly tripped over himself fleeing the room, while Azrael, Raphael and Raziel looked on in disgust.

"Typical human," Raziel muttered.

Slowly, Raphael nodded his agreement. "How much more they might have been."

"But not now," Azrael finished.

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Mako Tsunami fingered the handle of his harpoon nervously as he marched with the mercenary force. Now on his fourth level, he had quickly grasped the concept of the in-game battle and had taken a job working for a mercenary leader named Starke. He quickly found himself marching toward Cobalt, planning a full assault. The force was about one hundred strong, and the idea of attacking the capital of Kaiba didn't seem particularly well thought-out.

Nevertheless, he was optimistic about their chances. In the dense fog, it was unlikely that they'd be spotted before they reached the barrier wall. Once they'd penetrated the barrier, the nearly unprotected city would topple. At least, that was their hope. Starke seemed less hopeful. He kept them marching at a pace they could easily have doubled without tiring; more than that, he stomped much louder than he should have. All semblance of stealth seemed cast aside.

"Mako," Starke called authoritatively. "Come up here."

Quickly obeying, Mako moved to the front of the column. "You've proven to be an effective scout. This fog is making it hard to gauge our distance to the city. Run ahead and give me an idea of how much farther we have to go."

"Of course, commander," Mako replied and rushed into the fog.

Starke ran a hand through his thick mane of brown hair. His orders had been to have them close the barrier wall to prevent any reinforcements, but the fog was going to hinder that plan. Even his attempts to be noticed seemed undetected so far. He marched in silence for a time.

A brief flash of light flickered ahead, and Starke wondered momentarily whether it was a signal. An instant later it became clear what it was. The massive stone bulk of a Destroyer Golem crashed into the centre of the mercenary column, crushing nearly a dozen of the men in the process.

"Destroyer!" one of the lieutenants cried. Quickly, Starke rushed to a small foothill at the side of the road and gave a deep rallying cry.

Those mercenaries in the immediate vicinity of the monster that were not stunned by its sudden impact drew their weapons and swarmed the beast. Heavy pole arms smashed ineffectually against the hard rock of the beast, and in one swing of its great arm it cleared many of the soldiers away. The move, however, exposed the softer tissue of its semi-flesh arm. Blades and spears drove into the exposed weak point, and the beast pulled away from the assault. Instead, it kicked at the soldiers swarming it. Several of the mercenaries took major injuries, and two were killed, but the move left one glaring weak point. Mako Tsunami's harpoon fired through a small gap in the stones of its one grounded leg, and the strike found a home. The heavy stones ground against one another as they lost their cohesion. A moment later, the leg collapsed. The golem went with it.

But it wasn't defeated yet. It's limbs flailed blindly, smashing the ground and sending tremors that caused the incoherent mercenary group to stumble. Make kept his presence of mind and, lacking his harpoon, pulled out the small knife he kept for fish cleaning. He ducked one swing of the beast's titanic arm and leapt atop the prone monster's face. Grabbing a firm hold atop its forehead, he jabbed his knife repeatedly into the eyes of the golem. Moments later, it stopped struggling.

The victory was short lived. Another Destroyer Golem, accompanied by a King of Yamimakai, plummeted into the churning column. However, even as they landed Starke bellowed orders above the din. The group of archers he'd assembled fired a single volley into the chest of the fiend monster, and it collapsed as it landed. As Starke ordered the next volley prepared, another faceless lieutenant in the fray gave a rallying cry toward the golem. The charge followed. Dozens of weapons clamoured against the hard stone beast, but it raged onward. One massive blow crushed one warrior and scattered the others around him. Another sweep knocked the combatants away from the monster.

Mako pulled his harpoon from the rubble of the first golem and stared at the battlefield. More than two score of their soldiers had been slain in what had been less than five minutes of battle. Whoever was summoning these monsters remained painfully out of range. However, there was no time to think about that. Quickly, the seaman retrieved a coil of rope from his bag and tied it to the end of his harpoon. Tying the free end to his arm, he hurled his harpoon at the eyes of the golem. It stuck, and Mako pulled back on the rope to free the weapon from the golem's face. But the harpoon wouldn't budge. Resuming cognisance after the blow, the golem grabbed hold of the thin line and pulled. The fisherman became bait.

With surprising intelligence, the golem hefted Mako as a flail, driving him into the surrounding soldiers. As they tried not to strike their comrade, the mercenaries took several passing hits from his flailing legs. Moments later Starke's second volley was loosed, and almost forty arrows drove into the vulnerable point on the golem's face. It collapsed, freeing Mako's harpoon and hefting him through the air metres from the fray.

Then the third wave of foes hit. An Uraby, a Rude Kaiser and a Dark Titan of Terror all plummeted from the sky with uniform fury. The three giants, the smallest of which stood three metres tall, were barely fazed by their fall. By now, the soldiers weren't fazed by their fall either. Weapons at the ready, they assaulted their foes furiously. The battlefield was a churning eddy of combatants swarming around three resolute stones. The Kaiser heaved his massive bladed arms through the mass, and each swipe killed several soldiers. With equal ferocity, the soldiers drove their weapons into the exposed flesh of the underarm and the weak, unarmoured portions of its legs. Though it thrashed violently, the mercenaries brought the beast down. Even its fall proved a dangerous weapon, crushing several of Starke's combatants.

The dinosaur proved an even greater foe. Instead of keeping to its spot, it rushed in bursts through the fray. Spears and sword ripped from the hands of their wielders remained implanted in its hide, but it showed no signs of slowing. Its massive jaws tore soldiers from the ground and tossed them into the fray. More rushed, but the beast proved elusive. As he regained his composure, Mako saw the Uraby as the closest foe. Before he found the time to think he cast his harpoon into the dinosaur's carapace. Again, he was pulled along for the ride. Desperately, Mako climbed the dragging rope of his harpoon and found his way upon the swinging tail of the monster. Though he was unable to free his harpoon, his fish knife bit again and again. The irritation tempted the monster into a fatal error, and it rolled to free itself from the parasite. It never rose again. As soon as it levelled itself, a dozen mercenaries leapt atop it. Though the creature seemed impervious to damage from the individual strikes, the soldiers' combined efforts overcame it. It thrashed once, and then stopped struggling.

Though their number had been more than halved, the mercenaries were relentless. As its four arms worked furiously fending off strikes, the Dark Titan tossed the small soldiers around like rag dolls and trampled those who drew too close. Even those few weapons that found flesh were turned asunder by its rock hard hide. Eagerly, Starke called out the titan as the target of the next volley. His archers readied their arrows, but even as they did they were struck from behind. Raguel had easily spotted Starke as the leader, and his archers as the greatest threat in the fray. He had covertly wheeled around the battlefield and prepared for the ideal moment; as his soldiers charged the archers, he knew he had waited long enough. Within instants of the charge, the archers were threshed like wheat. Raguel charged Starke, and the mercenary commander came to a realization. He could defend himself, or he could take his shot and hope for to slay the beast for the good of his men. He fired. With a hiss, the arrow glided through the air and streaked into the top nostril of the grotesque monster. Giving off a final bellow of defiance, the monster collapsed atop the mercenaries. The blackguard slashed Starke's bowstring and tackled him to the ground.

"Noble," he hissed as he threateningly pressed his blade against the mercenary's neck. "I applaud the sentiment. I'll take you alive," he promised.

"Thanks," Starke groaned, "But no thanks."

Drawing a blade in one lightning-fast move, Starke rolled and jabbed the weapon toward the blackguard. Equally fast, Raguel parried the move and locked his own katana with Starke's dagger. Then, with a twist of his wrist, he drove the blade outward. His neck snapped forward, and his forehead connected with Starke's nose. The mercenary lost consciousness in a blur of cracking bone.

Out of the fog, one massive fireball slammed into the bulk of what remained of the mercenaries. Even as they cried for aid several fireballs followed, driving away the remaining soldiers and dispersing them into small groups. With no archers remaining, the force could not combat a dragon. The Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress landed in the centre of the cleared area. Jophiel dismounted as the mercenaries fled, and quickly met with Raguel.

"Prelate, we appreciate your aid," the blackguard called as he joined the black-haired prelate. "It was too large a force for us to handle by ourselves, but it seems we've dispersed them."

"This force is a distraction. What we need to find is the real force. Have you located their leader?"

"I've just incapacitated him," Raguel admitted.

"Take me to him."

When they found the unconscious form of Starke, Jophiel had him lifted before him. He quickly readied a small satchel of white powder and poured it onto the commander's face. With no further warning, he pressed his hand onto the mercenary's skull and closed his eyes tightly. The holy guardsmen holding the body exchanged glances, but waited and watched. Finally, the prelate drew away.

"One force is coming by train in no less than an hour. Another infiltrates Cobalt as we speak. I will fly there in advance and ready their welcome. You stay here and mop up the remnants," Jophiel commanded.

Raguel bowed low, again awed by the magic the prelates possessed. "As is your will, my lord," he replied.

Several minutes later the holy guardsmen began searching the battlefield for survivors. Many of the soldiers that had been stunned or injured by the movements of their foes remained alive, and upon each discovery Raguel had the mercenary slain. The scattered forces of the mercenary group in the area still outnumbered Raguel's platoon three-to-one, and that was not counting the injured. Obviously, none could be left alive. Despite that, Raguel continued searching for commanders among the survivors. Information was short in supply, and he had no intention of letting any sources go to waste.

A eunuch turned his attention to him not far away, near the corpse of the Uraby, and flagged Raguel down. He extracted the body as Raguel approached, waiting for the blackguard to determine rank and pass judgement. However, as Raguel drew close he was given sudden pause. A bright green light caught his attention from the pouch on his waist, and he quickly extracted the smooth black metal object he'd been given earlier. "It's reacting to this one as well?" he marvelled. "Very well. Send this one to the guards holding the boy we found at the beach. I'll explain the situation to Lord Azrael when we return to Sandalphon."

Raguel replaced the object in his pocket and glanced toward Cobalt. Jophiel had gone ahead, but would even the prelate be enough to stop a force already within the city walls?

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The bulky locomotive sped beneath the stone archways and into Cobalt proper. Its wheels churned noisily and its steam choked the breath out of several pedestrians in passing, but such was common near the station in the capital. Passing the notifying sign, it slammed on its breaks and began to screech to a gradual halt. It stopped perfectly on cue, lined with the station platform, and the doors swung open. The initial rush of passengers exited the train and stepped onto the platform, marching down the wooden stairs and into the square below.

And there they stopped. The square was barricaded on all sides by nearly seventy royal guards. Several stood atop the platform and began searching the trains for stragglers, while the others began to interrogate those that had been on the train. Fifty-three mercenaries were escorted to the prison within minutes. The royal guard was back at the palace minutes after that.

Meanwhile, near the northern gate, an assembled force of a hundred men waited eagerly for their backup. They stood in groups of fifteen or fewer, but runners between each group all conveyed the same message: "Where are they?" The answer didn't come. Finally, they began to grow restless. As a force of royal guardsmen marched back into the palace, their leader decided it was time to make a choice. He ordered the charge.

Eagerly, the men readied their weapons and charged up the stairs and into the main entry chamber. The northern entrance had been chosen since it provided the quickest route to the throne room, but the northern entry chamber also provided a large battleground. The royal guard had assembled there at Jophiel's orders, and Azrael's blackguard quickly sealed the exits from the mercenary group. Fervently, the battle began in earnest. The mercenaries were cut down to a man.

A/N: So, that's that. Time to tackle the next chapter. Expect a lot of revelations as to what all is going on, as Seto meets with the Empress' sage. It should be an interesting chapter. By the way, the kitten terrorists also told me that it could be very harmful to kittens if people don't leave reviews. I'm just passing on the message.


	19. The Legend of Kaiba

A/N: So this chapter wrote itself fairly quickly. I've been building to these explanations for a long time, and to finally get to it was a good feeling. More than that, however, I like the flow of the chapter. It should clear up a lot, but it leaves enough to be questioned. In any case, go ahead and read it yourself. As always, enjoy.

**Disclaimer**: I offered Kazuki Takahashi all the money in my pocket or whatever's behind door number two for the rights to Yu-Gi-Oh! He said, "No thanks." Too bad for him, I had over four dollars in my pocket.

**Chapter Nineteen: The Legend of Kaiba**

Naphar slid a small silver key into the lock and opened the door. "This is Alufinus' room. Can you find your way back to the throne room when you are done?"

Nodding even as he stepped through the door, the prince muttered a few words of thanks and entered the large chamber. It was filled with dozens of bookshelves crammed with different volumes, many of which were older than anything the prince had seen before. The well-groomed, silver haired sage sat in the middle of the room behind a heavy oak desk, nose-first in an encyclopaedia of some variety.

"Oh, hello," he called as he looked up from his book. "You must be Prince Seto. Welcome to my little sanctuary. My name is Sage Alufinus, and I understand you've come to ask me a few questions."

Seto quirked an eyebrow. "They sent a runner ahead to inform you? I wasn't under the impression anyone except those in the throne room knew I was even coming here."

"They didn't," Alufinus replied, "And they don't. But the Empress informed me, when she detected your approach, that you would be wanting to speak to me. I've been reading up on the history of Kaiba. Oh, take a seat."

After transferring a stack of books from one of the dusty wooden chairs, Seto sat down opposite the sage. "We have a fairly detailed history of our own country. I doubt you can have discovered anything about Kaiba we did not already know," he stated simply.

"Ah, you misunderstand," the sage noted. "I didn't mean the history of the country Kaiba. I have little doubt that you know all there is to know about your own country since its creation those hundreds of years ago. I have spent my time researching your country's namesake, the warrior Kaiba. What do you know of him?"

"Again," Seto answered, "I believe that we know what there is to know. Kaiba was a warrior that gained favour with the creator by defeating the God monsters, and so was granted healing from his injuries and was turned into a great and powerful duel monster. Later, he became depressed with the state of humanity and sought to destroy it, but they locked his body away in several parts as the Forbidden One."

The sage nodded throughout Seto's explanation, for it was exactly what those in Kaiba were taught. "What would you say if I were to tell you that I have documents that are eight hundred and fifty years old that tell a different story of the hero Kaiba?" he asked.

"I'd tell you to spill what you know," Seto replied.

"Very well…" the sage began. "I will have to start from a good deal before the birth of the hero Kaiba. While the early history of humanity is all but impossible to determine, the history of the Gods is well kept."

"God_s_?" Seto pressed.

"Yes. There is one God, the great God, who presides over the entire universe. His name is so great, and so lengthy that if I were to begin saying it now I would need to continue to speak long after my grandchildren had died. Because of this, we refer to him as Omnus Genesis, or the Origin of All. However, it was not Omnus Genesis' want to rule over every world he created, so over each world he placed a pantheon of Gods to govern that world. In ours, those Gods were called Ae, the Creator, Oa, the Ruler, and Ui, the Destroyer."

"What?" Seto gawked, "Then they're real?"

"Indeed. These Gods presided over the world in secret for a long time. However, they began to desire a greater amount of faith from humanity, so they had Ae, the only God who was able to create anew, to make bodies for each of them. For Ui, he created Obelisk the Tormentor. For Oa, he created Slifer the Sky Dragon. For himself, he created the Winged Dragon of Ra. These monsters enforced the will of the Gods as avatars, and they destroyed many of the humans that were faithless.

"It was about this time that the hero Kaiba was born. Kaiba was not pious, as all the stories say he was. He was an atheist. No, that's not strong enough. He was an antitheist. Claiming the Gods were no more than very powerful duel monsters, he set out to prove his claims true. He was a warrior without equal, more powerful than any human that has walked the earth since. Near the equatorial line he did battle with Slifer, the avatar of the God that presided over life. He was victorious and the fallen monster collapsed atop the mountains and levelled the area you know as Yugi's Pass.

"The people began to believe in his claims, and he travelled north. There, deep within the Terminus Mountains, he found and battled Obelisk. Obelisk, too, was defeated. With that done, he had only one more God monster to defeat. He headed south again, and did battle with Ra near where Cobalt stands today. The battle was longer and harder than any before it, and Kaiba was badly injured. Ra thought victory was his, but Kaiba then performed a task that has been unequalled since that day. He summoned the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon and destroyed Ra.

"Or so he thought. Ra contained the essence of Ae, the creator. As his avatar was destroyed, Ae created a new avatar and cast his body into it. It was the body of a human, and so no one believed that it could also be the avatar of the God. Not even Kaiba would have believed such a thing. Thus, covertly, Ae survived. After the scourging of the Gods, Kaiba established his nation. The people lauded him as a hero… for a time, for Ae was still alive.

"Ae set to work on his first great task. His powers of creation had been sapped, first by the arduous task of the creation of the avatars and then by his defeat at the hands of Kaiba. Ae knew that humanity had earned the right to rule its own world, but he also knew it was the divine will of Omnus Genesis that the Gods be allowed to govern. The conclusion he arrived at was meant to be the perfect compromise. He was unable to recreate his brother Gods. His power had been so sapped that he could not create anything so powerful. At least, not at once. He recreated Ui through creating five monster cards. These five cards, when combined, would summon a monster that contained the essence of Ui, the Destroyer and that possessed the power of the deity itself. These cards compose the Forbidden One you know of."

"So the Forbidden One is actually a dead God?" Seto asked incredulously.

"Yes," Alufinus replied.

Seto leaned back in the chair, "I find that hard to believe."

Alufinus shot the prince a slight grin. "Prince," he smiled, "the revelations have only just begun."

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Cruising in low over the massive canopy of the Luminescent Forest, the lodeship's engines let out a low whine. The glowing area in the canopy ahead marked the location of Landstar, and it would only be a few more short moments before Sagaelen arrived. He'd been undetected so far; the fog that had rolled in had veiled his passage over Lortosia.

Sagaelen slowed to a near stop as he reached Landstar and began to navigate his way through the canopy. Branches snapped against the lodepanels of the sleek Venyoran craft as it dipped low, and a few moments later he broke clear through the canopy. Carefully avoiding the suspended homes of the Landstar creatures, he navigated down to the floor below. Finally, the craft settled in a particularly large area of unbroken water, and he disembarked onto the latticework of roots that made the floor of the lighted city.

Within seconds he was surrounded by a mob of the small, podgy creatures that inhabited the town. They followed closely as he made his way toward the structure in the middle of the clearing, but none of them made an aggressive move. When he finally entered the structure, several of the Knights of Landstar formed an escort and followed along. Reverently, he approached the dais of the main hall.

"Welcome back to Landstar, Sagaelen," the Empress called softly. "It's been some time since last you were here."

Sagaelen nodded. "Terribly sorry, but I'm afraid I don't have a lot of time to chat, Countess. Seto-boy's in need of your help right now."

"Oh!" the Countess cried, rising to her feet. "He isn't harmed, is he?"

"Oh, no… But, oh dear, what _did_ he want me to tell you? Oh, yes, that's right. He says, 'The Dragon Prince and the little mirror girl require your aid'. I'm to bring you to Venyore at once."

"Venyore? The situation must be dire…" she thought aloud.

"I'm afraid we've had a bit of a mishap. I can explain on the way there," he offered.

The Countess nodded slowly, "Yes, of course. We should go now, then."

Replying with a simple nod, Sagaelen nobly escorted the Countess to her ship. The Countess quickly uttered a few orders for her absence to the denizens of the forest, and then they were gone.

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Fallacian extracted his hand from the broken splinters of the table and shook it slightly. "A complete failure? We haven't even weakened their defences! All we've done is let them know that something is awry. Shale, how could this happen?" he bellowed.

"Bad luck. Or bad providence, if you want to look at it that way. The main force was spotted heading to the capitol and were eradicated by a force of holy guardsmen, apparently including a summoner. They must have extracted the plan from their leader, Starke, because they were anticipating our every move in Cobalt," Shale explained. "In any case, the circumstances of our defeat were unforeseeable. There was no way-"

"You're making excuses!" Fallacian yelled. "Seems to me like your plan was flawed. If it wasn't, then over three hundred of our men would still be alive!"

"I… of course, you're right, warlord. However, this was only an expeditionary force…"

"Hah! It was over ten percent of our soldiers. Expeditionary force?"

Shale grimaced, but kept his eyes on the floor instead of Fallacian. He had never seen Fallacian so angry before. Of course, this was the warlord's first great loss. Apparently, defeat was not something he took well. "Sir, we still have more than enough soldiers to proceed with the plan. Unless you think the losses are too great, of course… We could always abandon the plan…"

"No," Fallacian interjected. "No. We must proceed, in order to honour those men that died. Tell me, what happened to their bodies?"

"They were refined. Even now, the last of them are still being brought to the springs near Sandalphon," Shale replied.

"Very well. We shall proceed. The next time Cobalt is emptied our covert soldiers will take the wall and all of our forces will march into the city," he paused, noting the look of discomfort on Shale's face. "If the holy guard is out, our forces will be able to overwhelm the city on sheer numbers. They will surrender without bloodshed. If they do not, the battle will still be brief."

Shale nodded reluctantly. "Very well. Then we shall proceed with the plan. No use in crying over spilt milk…"

"Split milk," Fallacian echoed. "Is that all the lives of three hundred and fifty men are? Never mind. Tell Basalt and Pyrite of the change in plans. Have them ready the soldiers for mobilization at a moments notice."

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"Tell me, Prince Seto, what does the word 'deiprelate' mean?" Alufinus asked.

"Well, a prelate is one who rules within the church. It means 'leader', and 'dei' is a prefix meaning 'God'. I've always been told deiprelate meant 'one who rules with the favour of God'," Seto answered.

"Indeed," Alufinus declared. "That is what the church maintains the word's meaning is. However, that is not its meaning. I have read the first treatise of Deiprelate Yugi, and have heard his explanation of the word. This treatise was destroyed centuries ago in Kaiba. I possess the only remaining copy. I will read you a passage now, paraphrasing for comprehensibility, of course. 'The word 'deiprelate' was formed to describe my rank. It comes from the prefix 'dei' and the word 'prelate', but most find its exact meaning ambiguous. In truth, the phrase was constructed to mean, 'one who leads a God'."

"And what God is this?" Seto interrupted. "The church is a deity?"

"No. Ae knew that humans needed to govern themselves, and so he placed the Deiprelate as the highest authority, on par with the King and the Warlord. However, Oa's right to rule the world was undeniable. So, he placed Oa as the fourth member of the triumvirate, subordinate only to the deiprelate."

"Fourth member of the triumvirate? Ridiculous!" Seto scoffed.

"But you must recall, Ae could not recreate a being on par with the deities themselves. In order to recreate Oa, he had to split up his essence. He did so by separating each of his main character traits into a separate entity: adoration, inspiration, repentance, restoration, sophistication and wrath. Six entities. But humans would not allow themselves to be governed by non-humans. Therefore, each entity was disguised as humans subordinate to the prelate, but to no one else. These beings, all parts of the same whole, or Oa, were the prelates."

"Ridiculous!" Seto exclaimed. "I've known one of the prelates since he was a boy. He's a year younger than I am!"

"Yes," Alufinus replied, as though that had been what he had been trying to say. "I know. This, to, was done for humanity's benefit. The beings, entities of Oa, took human bodies as hosts. They lived for an average human lifespan and then died. Then, when their role was filled, they would take on the new body as their host. Your friend, when he became prelate, died. He is no more. Now, there is only Oa."

_"Don't grieve for the dead; accept their deaths and learn to move on. You knew a young boy who died years ago; forget him."_

"So… Raphael… is truly dead? But, you say they lived average human lifespans. I've killed a prelate before, and he had not died. If they live as humans, how can this be?"

Alufinus stroked his chin. "It is possible that they are allotted a certain time to live, and then killing them before that time is futile. I understand that Ae placed the essence of Oa in some object, and that this object was required to implant the host. It is quite possible that destroying the prelates before their destined time will only recreate them wherever their object lies."

"The Geroa Chamber…" Seto muttered aloud. "So that's why Azrael was so reckless. He can't die. None of them can. But if that's true… can we even battle them?"

"I don't know. I understand this information has most likely given you even more questions to ponder, but I have told you all I have been able to determine. There is only one more piece of information I have left to impart to you," he stated.

"And that would be?"

"The location of the last two shrines. One of them is right here in Excecial Palace. Or, at least, underneath Excecial Palace."

Seto blinked. "Underneath the palace? In the catacombs?"

"Yes. Excecial Palace grew from a shrine built to protect the altar. Few now remember that, but I assure you at the heart of our catacombs is one of the altars you seek. Do you have the requisite silver cards? I understand you need twenty stars worth to sacrifice," Alufinus warned.

"I have them," Seto replied. "I've been carrying all of the silver cards I could retrieve from the castle. Although I hate to use them like this, I suppose its necessary. I understand nothing can destroy the altars. Maybe something can destroy the cards themselves. Everything has a weakness; I just need to find it."

"That's the spirit!" Alufinus encouraged. "You'll need the key if you're going to get down there. The Empress has it stored somewhere, so you'll need to see to her if you want to retrieve it. I hope I've been of some help."

Seto grunted as he stood, and then exited wordlessly.

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"The Fate Generation Engine is really working, eh big brother?" Mokuba called as he glanced up from his terminal.

Kaiba grunted. "Fallacian has an ambition fate tying him to the throne. His recent behaviour is an obvious sign that the engine has more power than I anticipated. Still, if anything, that's a benefit. It just proves my program is more potent than even I realized."

Mokuba laughed, and punched in a few more keys. Suddenly, his face darkened. "What are we going to do about that AI, Seto?" he asked cautiously.

"I don't know," Kaiba admitted. Suddenly, he cocked his head and looked upward towards the ventilation system. "Hmm. Mokuba, I think I'm a bit cold. Turn on the heating system, would you?"

"Are you sure Seto? According to the readouts, its twenty-four degrees in here…"

"Do it," Seto commanded. With a few quick keystrokes, Mokuba accessed the building's environmental controls.

"Okay. I'll raise the temperature a few degrees…" he reported.

"No. Crank the system. Set the target temperature to fifty-five," he ordered. Seeing the expression on Mokuba's face, he added, "Just for a few minutes."

"Alright. But why, Seto…"

"Pest control," Kaiba responded. "It shouldn't take long. And have some of our guards lock down the outer vents. There's a draft."

Finally, Mokuba realized what his brother was talking about. "Alright Seto. I'm cranking the environmental controls. I'll get right on that pest problem, too. No one breaks into to Kaiba Corp."

Kaiba smirked at his brother last statement. He'd done that very thing himself more than once. Of course, he knew his way around better than these federal bunglers, but he wasn't about to give them any tips. They'd be learning shortly what happened when you messed with Seto Kaiba.

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"And that is why I need access to the catacombs," Seto finished.

The Empress shifted slightly. "It is dangerous down there, Prince. And if what you say is true, then the pedestal is more secure there than anywhere else. Why should you try and retrieve the card?"

"It isn't enough to ensure that it won't be used now," the prince answered. "I have to ensure that it won't – that it can't – ever be used. The only way to do that is to recover the card. I have the silver monster cards required. All that is left is to get the card."

"How?" the Empress wondered, "How can you destroy this card?"

"If Alufinus was correct in what he explained to me, all I have to do is use the same weapon Kaiba used all those ages ago. I'm going to summon the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon. I already have two Blue-Eyes White Dragons in my possession. I need only find the last one."

"Two? I knew only of your brother," the Empress protested.

Seto nodded. "I have never used the second, but it is in my possession none the less. It was once my mother."

"Your mother…" the Empress echoed. "Do you even know where you will find a third Blue-Eyes?"

"I suspect I know where I can retrieve a third. Again, I will need your help." He turned to Serenity, who stood not far behind him in the throne room. "And yours, Serenity."

"What can I do?" Serenity asked.

Seto strode to where she stood and placed his hand on her shoulder. "I will need the help of a summoner. One that I trust," he stated. Then, craning his neck to glance back at the Empress he explained his plan. "I intend to perform a half-refining. The card will have but a single use, but it will accomplish what it must."

The sound of clamouring silver could be heard as the decorative bowl that had rested on the arm of the throne fell to the floor. It had been knocked over as the Empress stood, staring stunned at the prince. "No. Absolutely not. I forbid it."

"What is a half-refining?" Serenity asked.

"Half-refining is a process by which a part of the soul of a human is refined into a card. The card possesses enough energy for a single use, and then it is re-assimilated into that person's body. Prince Seto believes that his own soul card is a Blue-Eyes White Dragon," Naphar answered, entering from the shadows at the back of the room. "He wishes to perform a half-refining to attain a third Blue-Eyes White Dragon."

"Oh… Well, what's so wrong with that?"

Naphar sighed heavily. "Half-refining is an extremely risky process. First, it is very difficult to only siphon the appropriate amount of soul. If too much is extracted, it can be extremely harmful. Second, in the event that the ritual fails the human's soul will be lost. We will not be able to refine or bind it, and the result will be that their soul will become a malevolent spirit."

"It's a stupid risk, Seto," the Empress spat from her dais. "I won't let you do it."

Seto smiled slightly. "That's the first time you've called me by name, Empress," the Dragon Prince declared.

"I…oh!" Quickly, the Empress threw her hands over her mouth. Seto simply smirked. He slowly crossed the long distance through the throne room and ascended her dais. Leaning his head in close, he placed one hand on her cheek.

"My life means little, Empress. I have to do this. Even if we stop them from getting a hold of the cards now, they could do it in the future. What I am doing will remove a great risk from the world. You have to let me do this."

Trembling, the Empress' eyes met Seto's. "But… I'm afraid for you. To know that… that you weren't there anymore… We've been absent from each other these ten years, but I've never once forgotten about you. I love you, Seto."

"I know," Seto replied. "And you know how I feel. I admire you, Empress. But you are letting fear interfere with your judgement. On the bridge of your ship you didn't let me save my friend for fear that it _might_ spark a war and kill some of your people. You saw fit to sacrifice his one life in order to not risk many. Do the same now. Risk my life in order to not risk many."

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"My lord!"

"Yes, Raguel?" Jophiel drawled lazily.

"I was out on the walls just now, and I spotted something that I felt it necessary I inform you about," Raguel explained.

Jophiel glanced at the throne to his side where King Bakura sat, idly entertaining himself with some jester. He'd been in Cobalt for less than an hour now, but already he was growing impatient with the town. "Very well, blackguard. Tell me," he ordered.

Quickly, Raguel led the prelate slightly away from earshot of the throne, into one of the back halls of the throne room. "I was out on the wall, looking out over the Luminescent Forest. As you recall, we suspected that some of the archers we slew were part of a bandit tribe that lives not far beyond there. I was using my spyglass to try and see what I could of that desert, when I noticed something above the forest. A lodeship, most definitely not one of ours, landed within the forest. Shortly after, it left."

"A Venyoran lodeship?" Jophiel marvelled. "Well, that is something. That is something indeed. Well done. I will tell Remiel of this discovery. He will be most pleased…"

"Pleased? Were we expecting a lodeship from Venyore?"

"No," Jophiel replied. "But this will be exactly the excuse we lacked."

A/N: That clear some things up? It should. I've replaced the reviewer responses on my profile page with a character list, although I don't recommend assaulting it unless you have questions about a certain character. While there is some information in there that doesn't come across in the action, it probably isn't worth reading through just for that. Your call, though, really. By the way, did you know an eDiet consisting of leaving many reviews can lessen your chance of heart disease? It's true.


	20. Leaping at Shadows

A/N: Hard to believe, but it's been over a month since I updated. I know, that's terrible. But it is clearly a direct result of global warming… somehow. In any case, here's the next chapter at last. Enjoy.

**Disclaimer**: I do not belong to Yu-Gi-Oh! Wait, no, that wasn't it… although that's also true…

**Chapter Twenty: Leaping at Shadows**

"Seto… why won't you let me go?" Serenity whined as she followed the prince into his room. "I've come along to all the other shrines. I saved you, didn't I?"

"Yes, that's why you're staying."

"But Se-"

"Serenity!" Seto interrupted, more than a touch of irritation in his voice. "I know you are useful, capable and willing. However, Sagaelen will be returning shortly and I need someone to meet him at the dock. That can't be me, therefore it will be you."

"I… fine, I understand," she conceded.

"Good," the prince replied as he strapped on his cape and sheathed his sword. His preparations had been made for entering the catacombs, but he was obviously nervous. The half-refining would occur as soon as he retrieved the card, and despite his bravado he appeared to be nervous. Finally, he turned to Serenity and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Take care, Serenity. The Empress won't likely react well if she finds out what we've done. Our hope rests on the fact that she will realize no harm was done by it."

Serenity gave a slight nod, staring off into space somewhere beyond the prince's shoulder. He quirked an eyebrow and gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze. "Something the matter?" he pressed.

"Uh…? No," she replied, brushing away from the prince and exiting into the hallway. She stopped only after getting a fair distance down the hall and rounding a corner, leaving a very confused prince in her wake. Finally, leaning against the wall, she gave an audible sigh. In a way, she lamented what she had lost.

Her assumption had been that the prince was simply callous and self-centred, seeking her out from his own hedonism and not caring about his obligations. After speaking to the Empress, she saw it for what it was, something she was used to receiving: pity. Everyone she was used to dealing with was more interested in what they could do for her than what she could do for herself. Perhaps Seto's motivations had a selfish drive, but they were beginning to look more and more like condescension.

Slowly, she slid down the wall and rested on the floor. Her head lay against the cold, hard stone, and she sighed audibly. When had things gotten so… angsty? Kaiba's video game was fast resembling some kind of dating sim, and she simply didn't have the energy to deal with it. She missed Yugi, or even Tristan, any kind of link to real life. Instead, she found herself surrounded by the drama and fear of courtly love in the midst of a great war, like something out of an ill-conceived fantasy novel. Worse, she was beginning to care.

"I must confess, Miss Serenity," a soft-spoken, gravely voice came from above, "that while the floor may be comfortable, in the midst of a hall is an odd spot to pick in which to sit. I can only assume that you were on the way to the kitchen and fainted as a result of the vastness of her Ladyship's halls. May I help you to your feet?"

Naphar offered her his hand, and proceeded to lift her to her feet. "Thanks. I was just…"

"Don't feel you need to explain yourself to me, Serenity. I would guess that Prince Seto is the reason. He can be a trying man, but you can trust me that he has only the best intentions for those near to him," Naphar assured her.

"Yeah," Serenity muttered, "That's what I'm afraid of. I only have one question. How did you know it was me? Y'know, since you're blindfolded and all…"

Chuckling slightly, Naphar motioned for Serenity to follow as he headed toward the kitchen. "What?" Serenity protested, "What's funny?"

"I hope you won't take any offence," the Nocturne replied, "But in light of that question, I have to wonder which of us is the blind one."

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"The tribe is angry about their loss, and they refuse to send any more troops at any cost. Starke's band is paralysed without their leader, and most of the rest of the soldiers of fortune are too scattered to be of use. The loss of the battle of Cobalt is proving to have serious ramifications," the emissary explained quietly.

"I don't care about that," General Pyrite stated flatly. "I need to know how the mobilization preparations are proceeding."

"The soldiers are ready to go at ten minutes notice. Not bad for an hour's work, no?"

"Emissary?"

The emissary smirked. "Forget it. I know better than to jump through hoops for your praise. Nevertheless, I've been over Kaiba and back twice today, and if you don't mind, I would like some rest."

"Not until you give me the last bit of information I'm waiting on. What news from our sources in Sandalphon?" Pyrite pressed.

"Nothing solid. Rumours suggest that a Venyoran ship was seen in our airspace. From what I hear, Remiel has been looking for an excuse to make an incursion into Venyoran territory. If this is it, the entire fleet is likely to be in Venyore by morning."

"Morning! By the creator! Remiel works faster than even you, emissary," Pyrite exclaimed.

The emissary gave a wry grin. "Perhaps. Nevertheless, the Venyoran fleet is far superior. Though they will have the element of surprise, I can't imagine what they hope to gain. They won't hold Venyoran territory for more than two hours, I imagine."

"This is interesting… You must have some useful sources to gain this information," Pyrite led.

"For the last time," the emissary rebuked him, "I won't tell you who they are. Now, you will relay this information to Basalt and Shale?"

"Of course," Pyrite answered. "Of course."

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The broad stone doors that led down into the catacombs loomed ominously before Seto. Behind him, the Empress stood with Naphar and Pacias. "Are you sure you must do this tonight, Seto?" she asked. "If you rested, it would reduce the risk of injury."

"I'm fine. There's no sense wasting time. Once I retrieve the card, we can begin preparations for the half-refining. Now, will you open the door?" Seto said impatiently.

"Yes, of course." Quickly, the Empress glided to the door and pressed her hands against it. The sound of a mechanism shifting loudly could be heard, and the door slid open with a groan. The smell of ancient air flooded from the opening, and the dark staircase beckoned.

Seto stepped through the door and onto the first step of the staircase, eying the darkness cautiously. With his eyes still focussed ahead, he retrieved Keith's sunglasses from a pouch on his belt and slid them on. "Don't shut the door behind me," he reminded slowly, before beginning his descent.

"Wait!" the Empress called suddenly. "There's likely to be a guardian down there, since all of this grew from a shrine meant to defend the pedestal. Naphar, Pacias, go with him."

Pacias recoiled, slipping her arm around Naphar's. The Nocturne simply bowed. "As you wish, your Ladyship," he conceded. The mage clutched tighter, and whispered something into Naphar's ear. He nodded slowly, before turning back to the Empress. "Pacias will need a torch."

"Of course," the Empress replied, quickly dispatching of one of her guards to find the item. "Pacias, don't be afraid. It will be alright, and Seto is a good man. You don't have anything to fear."

Looking back down the tunnel, Pacias simply trembled. "Perhaps Pacias has something," Naphar conjectured. "After all, there's no way for us to know what our ancestors left for us down there."

"Whatever it is, if it stands in my way I'll destroy it," Seto assured him.

"Hmm. It is written that a man can gain nothing and lose everything through hubris. Perhaps you should not be so quick to make such boasts, Seto," Naphar replied.

Seto glanced back at the Nocturne. "Well, pride is only hubris when it's unjustified. That was not a boast, it was a statement of fact. I'm going on ahead. Catch up when you feel like it," he finished, before striding into the darkness.

"Seems I've offended him," Naphar muttered as the prince strode away. "How impatient. Not the Seto I remember."

"The Seto you remember had a brother and a father," the Empress reminded him. "Time changes people. Loss changes people. Prince Seto's been put through fire. I wonder, Naphar, if you would come out so clean."

Naphar smiled sardonically, "As always, Empress, your wisdom is far-reaching. I pray that I may never have occasion to see."

"As do I, Naphar," the Empress replied.

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Silver silhouetted forms of the cavern walls loomed around the prince as he trudged through the catacombs. The air was stale, stagnant, and reeked of centuries of solitude. He heard nothing, save for the soft clicks of his boots on the stone and the faint pads of the pair he'd left behind catching up with him. As he felt his fingers tighten around the handle of his sword, he realized he had no recollection of drawing it. The darkness was oppressive, even with the magical glasses, and spoke of something within the eerie halls. He believed Pacias had been right.

Though light made no difference in the vision the glasses granted him, he became aware of the heat of the torch behind as the others drew near. He slowed momentarily to allow them to close the gap before striding ahead again. Finally Naphar reached Seto and walked abreast of him, the two scanning the caverns, though neither used their own eyes.

"It's narrowing," Naphar stated suddenly, breaking the deafening silence.

"I know," Seto replied. "There's a doorway up ahead."

"Something's there."

This time, Seto started. "Are you sure?" he asked, his tone hushed.

"Certain," Naphar replied quietly. "It's big. Are you sure you can live up to your earlier boasts?"

"I told you: I don't boast. Whatever it is, I'll take it down."

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Serenity took a moment to relax against the wall in the lodeship bay. It had taken her a few minutes to get away from Naphar to reach her objective, but ultimately the Nocturne had been forced to leave to meet the Empress at the door to the catacombs. Now, all that was left was for her to wait. Sagaelen had left almost two and a half hours ago, and time was running short. In the castle infirmary, Damien was slipping closer and closer to death. If Sagaelen didn't arrive within the hour, she would be going there to say her farewells.

With nothing but the low drone of the machinery in the lodeship bay to keep her company, Serenity allowed herself to indulge in a few moments of self-pity. True, this was all a game. However, though she knew that, it was a fact that gave her little solace. She was essentially alone now, with nothing but Seto's pity to keep her company. Both Yugi and Tristan seemed to be gone, and it was likely that it would take another few days for the game test to finish. She could simply throw herself from the ledge at the edge of the bay; it was a long fall down. But she needed the money she was earning from this. Fifteen hundred yen an hour, twenty-four hours a day for a week totalled over two-hundred and thirty-five thousand yen. That was almost eight month's rent in the dingy hole she called home.

But time in Kaiba's game didn't pass like time in the real world. One day in Kaiba's virtual world was longer than a week in the real world, it seemed, and events moved even faster than that. Just what had happened so far today would have been more than she'd have expected in a month back home. Her contemplations were interrupted as a lodeship slid into the bay and landed just ahead of her. Quickly, Sagaelen and the Countess of Landstar disembarked. It was time to get moving.

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The living rock became suddenly smooth and carved, and Seto again strained his eyes against the darkness. Even though the magical sunglasses he wore permitted him a light-insensitive perspective, he still couldn't see what it was he sought. "Are you certain?" he asked Naphar again. "I can't see anything."

"Strange," Naphar muttered in reply. "There's a presence, but I don't sense a form. This is… a first."

"What does that mean?" Seto asked.

Naphar paused, before reaching to his belt and drawing out the long rifle he had stowed there. "A trap, perhaps," he offered.

"A rifleman?" Seto muttered to himself. "Great. Just make sure you don't hit me by accident."

"Rifles have come a long way since the last time you were in Venyore, Seto. And I don't miss," he informed him.

Seto simply shook his head and proceeded forward. His foot fell on the carved stone tile, and he felt it slide. Instinctively, he leapt aside, narrowly avoiding the quickly solidifying form of their foe. His eyes fell along the hard bone ridges that crossed the monster's body, and before he even fully registered its shape he knew what they were fighting. "Summoned Skull! Watch for its missile attacks and find some cover!" he called to Naphar.

With a smirk, Naphar levelled his rifle at the beast, still dazed from its sudden summoning. "Thanks for the tip," he muttered, and fired the first round toward the monster's face. It struck and exploded into a brief flash of sparks, drawing the great beast's attention toward the Nocturne. But not for long. Seto darted in behind the skull, hamstringing both legs with fast strikes of his sword. With a start, the Summoned Skull lurched backwards, but it had begun to regain its composure and was not so easily distracted. Its massive claw hammered into the rock just ahead of the prince, and he narrowly managed to jump aside. But the skull had a target now, and it reeled to face the fleeing prince. Bolts of lightning shot from his claws, searing the ground behind Seto's footfalls.

Seto retained his focus, timing the bolts behind him with the upcoming wall. Something had to give. The prince got his wish as he could hear the grinding of bone as the skull's arm drew back for a strike. As he neared the wall he leapt into the air, kicking off the stone and coming down just below the elbow as the monster's arm streaked forward, shattering into the stone wall and sending a barrage of rubble from the impact. He leapt from there atop the creature's back, grabbing hard onto the ridges of bone and digging his blade into the soft purple flesh for grip.

Back against the wall, Pacias' magic fed the flame of her torch, slowing building it into a blaze. Her focus remained undaunted, even as the luminescence of the fire began to catch the flailing monster's attention. In turn, Naphar made sure its attention was drawn away. He fired anew, this time a flare shell, and its streaking path struck the skull in the face, exploding into a blinding flare of light. The beast lurched backward again, and the momentary pause allowed Seto to scale the beast's back and settle atop its head. He grabbed firmly onto one of the great horns and braced himself for the inevitable flailing the beast would use to shake him loose. With a firm grip established, he began to slam his blade against the unyielding bone that guarded the monster's head.

But the fiend no longer cared about Seto. Instead, it charged forward on all fours, its massive claws shattering the smooth rock floor as it pounded towards its prey. Naphar fired an incendiary round into its chest, slowing it for a mere moment before its charge resumed. Naphar was helpless to stop the charging beast, and wouldn't be able to outmanoeuvre the monster's charge. As his blade bit into the tender flesh below the shoulder, Seto sought to come to Naphar's aid. His blade dug in hard, and he kept his grip on the fiend's horn. He pulled both together, drawing the head of the monster upward and lifting it away from the ground. Exploiting the momentary weakness, Naphar darted between the creature's legs, avoiding the charge. However, the move endangered Seto. Though the creature's lengthy arms couldn't reach its head, its wings were able to reach its shoulders. The sharp tips shot toward Seto, one stabbing into his leg and the other biting across his face. In concert, the two strikes jarred Seto loose, and he only barely managed to withdraw his sword before his crashed to the stone floor below.

With its full momentum behind it, the fiend slammed into the wall ahead, stunning it. Seto used the momentary reprieve to conjure a Swordstalker, and Naphar loaded another round into his rifle. Now grown to more than the size of Pacias herself, Pacias' fireball was finally let loose. It streaked through the tense air and tore into the back of the monster, setting it ablaze. Rearing back and emitting a wail of agony, the beast spun to find this latest attacker. It was met by the charge of the newly summoned monster, and the two swung furiously at one another. Carefully, Naphar took aim at the remaining embers on the fiend's body. He let fire a pitch-filled round that exploded on impact, re-igniting the flames on his foe's body. As the skull wilted back under the flames, the Swordstalker fired its sword repeatedly between its ribs. It seemed the Summoned Skull was out, but it set itself again and grabbed the stalker firmly in hand. With one deliberate motion, it drove the summoned monster onto the stalactites above, puncturing it.

Seizing the opportunity for the clean shot at the monster's underarm, Naphar quickly loaded another of the explosive shells that had ineffectually struck the monster's face earlier and fired. This time, the round found a home, blowing apart the soft flesh and tearing the arm almost free of the monster's body. The Summoned Skull bellowed with rage, emitting a wave of energy from its tensing form. Crackling with energy, the wave spread quickly from the beast's body, until it was stopped by the elemental magic of the small girl in the shadows. The skull gave another defiant cry, before charging at the girl. Suddenly, it careened forward as another of Naphar's explosive rounds caught the back of its knee. Its head smashed into the stone, spraying debris about. Using all of her focus, Pacias held the rocks at bay, but she was trapped by the massive girth of the skull.

With a limp from the grievous leg injury he'd received, Seto quickly closed on the beast and ascended the ridges on its back. The beast jarred itself loose of the wall, and Pacias quickly darted away, leaving the rubble falling behind her. But it was too late for the skull to shake free of Seto's grip, and the prince delivered several quick jabbing blows into the back of the foe's neck. It moaned in defiance, but the strikes sapped its strength away and it finally collapsed under the wounds. Nonchalantly, Seto dismounted the beast's titanic corpse.

"There. I told you I would handle it," Seto said after a moment.

"To be honest, I think Pacias and I were of some help," Naphar replied.

Seto quirked an eyebrow at the comment. "If you consider nearly igniting me help."

"Hey!" Pacias shouted, covering her mouth almost as soon as she'd given the outcry.

With a smirk, Seto glanced at the girl. "She speaks!" he called, before heading further down the chamber.

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"Hmm… he's in bad shape. We don't have much time, so we'll have to work quickly. Little mirror girl, can you get me some bandages? They ought to have some around here somewhere…" The Countess of Landstar trailed off.

Serenity nodded quickly and rushed to a white cabinet hanging on the wall of the infirmary. She opened the panel and tossed a few boxes of gauze to the countess, making an effort not to look at Damien. The gaping hole in his chest was a more unsettling sight than she needed at the moment.

The countess' hands worked furiously, bandaging the whole and padding the bandages with myriad concoctions and salves. Her motions were so quick and graceful that Serenity wouldn't have been able to trace them if she'd wanted to, though her eyes were averted. She was the master of her instrument, fingers flying to conjure life in her dying patient. All Serenity could do was wait.

She waited patiently for what seemed like hours until she began to hear voices in the hallway outside the room. Footsteps accompanied the voices, and she realized that whomever she was hearing was getting closer. "Hurry!" she hissed to the countess, who merely smiled slightly. Veiling her tension behind her slight grin, the small woman urged her fingers to work faster, wondering what fate would bring them once their visitors arrived.

There was a thud as something struck hard against the door, and the voices became much louder. "Seto, are you alright?" one gravely voice asked.

"Ugh… I'm fine," she heard Seto groan, before the sounds of him pressing against the door could be heard.

"Help him up," Serenity heard the Empress command, and sounds of slight struggle could be heard. It was obvious that Seto was not that uncoordinated. Logically, that meant he was buying her time.

"Hurry!" the auburn-haired girl hissed to her double.

"Hurrying…" the Countess muttered back.

"Prince? Are you certain you're alright?" the gravely voice chimed in again, "It seems like you're injured worse than you care to admit. We are at the infirmary. If you will stop leaning on the door, we can get you some aid."

"Just give me a moment," Seto replied. "I need to… catch my breath."

"I find it interesting that you haven't had the slightest trouble until we got here, Seto. Is there something you don't want us to discover?"

"Pre… preposterous," Seto muttered, his voice strained. "It simply that I've lost so much blood I can't… quite seem to… stay upright… We should probably get these bandaged up…"

The knob of the door turned, and then it swung open.

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The two blades collided in a shower of sparks that died against the thick darkness. The two warriors lunged at one another again, slamming against one another and then pulling free, blades wheeling and diving at each opening. Finally the two parted, and the larger of the two humanoids turned, crossing the warm stone to a large granite table. He sat atop it, and exhaled slowly. A moment later, the other joined him.

"So the fourth seal has been broken. They are that much closer to conjuring the Incarnation of Desolation. What do they think they stand to gain from Ui Neco?" the smaller asked.

The larger thought for a moment, and then finally answered, "Death. It is the only thing that the juggernaut can produce."

"Death? The one word humans appal more than honour?"

"No, I think that is hygiene," the larger commented, and both laughed heartily.

The smaller laughed and rose to his feet, stepping across the duelling arena to the rail of stalagmites that separated the plateau from the lake of magma below. "How do you think Belial is doing?" he asked suddenly.

"He is slight," the other replied, "They will think he is one of theirs. Likely, he is of great use to them."

Suddenly, another form entered the room. "Azazel, Adramelech!"

"Master!" the two called in unison, bowing to the slim but tall form of the newest being.

"Rise," the new creature ordered. "Lamia tells me that our prodigal son has returned, and he brings news. He has not yet consulted the rising wind, but he proposes that we are to aid in the bringing of a new era."

The two beings growled in unison. "If it is his place to be a lap dog to those humans, he may," the larger retorted, "But as for Adramelech and I, we will answer to no human, Tyrant."

Tyrant eyed Azazel, the larger, dangerously. "You will do as I instruct. And you would do well to listen to the entire proposition before casting it aside. You did not even hear our target. We are to do battle… with Sandalphon."

A/N: It was a long time coming, so I hope you enjoyed it. It wasn't so much that I liked inspiration as I lacked motivation. But that changed after I ran out of holiday anime, so somehow, amidst many many projects, this chapter got written. In any case, might I suggest you leave a review before you go?


	21. Forward Motion

A/N: This chapter took notably less time than last chapter, and for good reason. This chapter, no matter how hard I tried, would not come out the way I wanted. It had it in its mind to come out a certain way despite me, and it did. And I like it, although it wasn't what I expected. So enjoy. Things are about to get a little more interesting.

**Disclaimer**: I said, "Guy who wants to give me the rights to Yu-Gi-Oh! says what" really fast to Kazuki Takahashi, but unfortunately he replied with, "Pardon?"

**Chapter Twenty-One: Forward Motion**

The group strode into the apparently empty infirmary and placed Seto on his chest on the table. Quickly, the Empress and Naphar set to work repairing the pair of injuries along Seto's back, while Pacias stood back. The girl seemed to be stricken by the injuries, and anyone would have said that she was squeamish. Together, the odd pair worked tirelessly bandaging the wound, finally backing away from the prone prince.

"That should do it. Those wounds were more grievous than you let on, prince," the Empress informed him.

"It was nothing. You needn't have troubled yourself with it," Seto protested.

The Empress nodded, but both knew that the urgent reparations had been more for the Empress' peace of mind than Seto's health. Suddenly, the Empress' clear eyes clouded over and she glanced out into the newborn night. "When do you plan… on following through with the ritual?"

"I need a few minutes to compose myself. What time would you say it is now?" Seto asked, his voice hollow.

With a shrug, the Empress glanced out the window as if to estimate by the sun. It seemed irrelevant that the moon had already begun rising; her eyes saw nothing anyway.

"Eleven, perhaps," Naphar guessed. "It doesn't feel quite cold enough for midnight yet. Perhaps it would be best – for all parties involved, of course – if we waited an hour before the ritual. I think we could all use the time to prepare ourselves."

Naphar's eyes, which had fallen on the door of the nearby emergency ward when he had mentioned all parties involved, shifted back to Seto and an understanding passed between the two of them. "Fine," Seto grunted. "But no later."

The Nocturne bowed low, "Of course, Dragon Prince. Empress, may I escort you back to the throne room?"

Stunned by the suggestion for a moment, the Empress looked at Naphar's offered hand and then to Seto. The prince avoided her questioning gaze, staring instead at the night scenery outside. Another moment passed, and then the Empress accepted Naphar's hand. "Yes… that would be fine," she said, dejectedly.

"Come, Pacias," Naphar called as he and the Empress glided out of the infirmary.

Seto silently traced the forms of moonlit trees with his eyes, exhaling slowly as he rose to sit on the table. A moment later, the door of the emergency ward swung open and two identical Serenities entered the room. The prince smirked slightly, "Hello Countess, little mirror girl."

"How bad were your injuries?"

"Not bad, Countess," Seto protested as the noblewoman investigated his wounds. "I took a few unfortunate hits. That's all." He glanced up as Serenity averted her eyes from him, and the Countess quickly caught the meaning in that glance.

"I'll go see Sagaelen, then. He'll be wondering how I'm getting along," the Countess offered, leaving the room before either of her companions could protest.

Seto glanced up at Serenity again, and then hopped off of the small table. "I'm glad I entrusted this to you. Damien is in the next room?"

"He's sleeping," Serenity told him. She opened her mouth again, before hesitating and closing it again.

"What?"

Serenity paused, for a moment. Then she finally asked, "Aren't you nervous?"

"About the half-refining? Can't be avoided," he replied, dismissing the notion with a slight gesture.

"You didn't answer my question," Serenity commented. "Why is it that you claim to be so interested in me, Seto?"

The prince quirked an eyebrow, as though the answer ought to have been obvious.

"I… I just need an answer."

Slowly, the prince closed the distance between himself and the small redhead. "Because you ask questions like that, and I want to give you an answer. Because you possess that rare trait, that inner light that sets the exceptional apart from the mundane. Because right now, there's no one in the world I feel I need to impress more than you, and yet there's nothing I want more than to admit to you that I'm terrified to go into that ritual."

"You… what?"

He placed his hands on her arms and rubbed up and down them. "Serenity, why is it you think I care about you?"

The small girl recoiled slightly, "Pity. All my life people have always been worried about how to help poor little Serenity out. I'm sick of it. I need… to stand on my own two feet."

"Pity?" Seto scoffed, "You don't know the first thing about love, do you? The poet's will tell you all about it, how love is the most selfless, devoted thing a person can think or feel. The truth is, love is selfish. It's for me that I have to be around you. It's all for me. Because when I'm around you, that's the only time I don't worry about you. Because when I'm with you, I get this weird warm sensation I can only assume is happiness. Because when I'm around you, I'm not thinking about everyone I've failed in the past. All I'm thinking about is you."

Serenity stared blankly at Seto for a moment. She almost started towards him, but she desperately reminded herself that he wasn't real. Feverishly, she tried to steel herself against him. But… her face warmed at the thought that… it was her he wanted. It was what she had to offer, what she already possessed that a prince aspired to.

The prince tried to read her eyes, but they seemed blank. He turned to stride away, but Serenity reached out and grabbed his arm. As the prince turned back, Serenity threw herself toward him, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing her lips against his. They were both stunned by the kiss, briefly, and then Seto curled his arms around Serenity's waist.

The kiss ended, and their mouths parted. Seto stared into Serenity's warm brown eyes, and the girl couldn't help but crack a smile. Pulling the thin frame of the girl towards him, Seto lifted her into his arms as Serenity slid her fingers into his hair. The momentum dropped Seto back onto the table, but neither cared. For a few brief moments there was no differentiating between the two forms, entwined in a soft, heated embrace. A moment later they parted again, and the prince again searched for answers in the eyes of the woman in his arms.

Serenity simply blushed, staring back coyly at the stunned face of her prince. "I… I'm sorry," she muttered. "I don't know why I did that."

"Don't apologize," the prince interjected. "Don't ever apologize. We've too little time to waste on such things." He smiled lazily at her and cradled her head with one hand. "The point is, did you mean it?"

For a moment, Serenity hesitated. Then finally, she found her answer. "Absolutely," she replied. "I've been fighting… every impulse I've had toward you since the beginning. I just suddenly realized… that there's no reason why. I… I want to be here right now. I want to fall in love with you."

Another kiss arrived a moment later, and Serenity began to wonder how much time she had wasted.

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"I'm sorry," Seto stated suddenly.

"Why?" Serenity asked, leaning against the wall and glancing from the starscape to where Seto leaned against the rail of the balcony.

"I just realized that this is the first time you've been to Venyore. And here I've subjected you to nothing but covert activity and thoughts of impending death. It's a beautiful country."

The redhead shrugged. "It's… not that important."

Seto grunted. "It's Remiel. This world is full of priceless sights… and he wants to destroy it. That's why I have to do this. Because there is much worth protecting."

It was obvious that he was trying to convince himself more than explain the situation to her, but Serenity nodded along anyway. She'd been drawn to Kaiba's world at first, but she was beginning to realize how foreign it was to her. Both Yugi and Tristan were gone, and she was genuinely alone now.

"Tomorrow, after this is all over, I'll take you to see the Silver Lake. It's close by, and you won't see anything else like it. Then perhaps we'll go south…" Seto trailed off, as he caught the blank expression on Serenity's face. "What?"

Serenity glanced up at the prince and forced a smile. "Sounds lovely," she said softly. She had been caught in the realization that as soon as Remiel was defeated, that would be the end of the test. Suddenly, she was loath to leave the virtual world, and thoughts of the sticky stairs up to her dismal apartment filled her mind.

"Prince," came a sudden low call from the doorway to the private balcony. "It's time," the voice, Naphar's, continued. "I've come to escort you to the ritual chamber."

With a nod, Seto disembarked from his rail and crossed the balcony to Serenity. He placed a soft kiss on her cheek and then followed Naphar out. The girl almost called out for him not to go, but something held her back. Instead, she waited until the two exited and then slid to the cold, unfeeling floor.

Silence enveloped her, and she was stricken again by the pervasive loneliness of it all. Sitting alone on that balcony under the starlight, she might have been the only person in the world. For a moment she fantasized that she might be alone in the world, that everyone she had met before was a dream, or a phantom for her benefit. Then she understood what Seto had meant when he said that love was selfish, and wondered how alone the prince who lived in an empty castle must have felt. A voice rose up in her mind to remind her that he wasn't real, but she suppressed it and instead thought about the life the prince must have led. So instead she fantasized that she and Seto were the only two people in the world, and that was enough.

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The room in which the ritual was to take place was a circular room with a single door, accessed by stairs along the north-facing wall. The floor was flooded, and the centre of the chamber accessed the fountain typically used for soul refining. Dim torches that provide a magical blue light lay in sconces along the walls, and a pedestal that served as a receptacle for the refined card stood along the south-facing wall. Seto removed his boots at the top of the stairs and descended into the fountain, where Pacias and the Empress awaited him.

"It's not too late to change your mind," the Empress reminded him.

"We both know that isn't going to happen," Seto replied.

"Know that we appreciate your nobility, Seto," Naphar stated coolly, "But I would not exchange positions with you even if I could."

Pacias nodded solemnly.

With a slight smirk, Seto stepped into the fountain and made his way to the deep depression in the middle. The Empress smiled softly, and guided him to the hole in the centre. She lay him down in it, and he floated on the surface, beside where the Empress stood at the edge of the hole. "You will need to hold your breath," she advised, exerting a mild pressure on his chest so as to communicate what would follow.

Seto nodded, and took a sharp intake of breath. Immediately after, the Empress pressed him down into the water. He reached the edge of the hole that led deep underwater, but lying down was too broad to fit into the passage. As he descended to that point a glow began to issue forth from the opening, and rose quickly to consume him. But the gap was too great and the Empress was forced to let Seto up for air before it reached him. The prince caught his breath, and the process was repeated, but again the light came too slow.

"Put me in the hole," Seto ordered.

"No," the Empress answered flatly. "You could get lost down there too easily. Once you go past that hole there is no returning."

"Put me in the hole," Seto repeated with a tone that left no room for debate. Quickly, he cast aside his armour and cape onto the steps, leaving himself in only his black pants.

"I won't do it," the Empress protested. "I won't! It's too much of a risk already. Seto, I… You've been all I put my hope in for so many years. I can't bear the thought… that you wouldn't be there anymore." Quietly, she began to cry. She only paused when she felt Seto's cool, wet arms around her thin frame.

"I'm not what you think I am," he stated levelly. "I'm no saviour."

"But you could be, don't you see?" she protested. "You have so much potential, and such a strong heart. You can be callous but… but you care so much… and…"

Seto tilted the Empresses chin upwards and locked eyes with her. "This is the only thing I can do now. I have to at least try. If it costs me my life, another can make the summon."

"But why does it have to be you?" she whined.

"This is the destiny I've made for myself," Seto answered.

The Empress tried to protest, but couldn't find the words. Seto stepped away from her, and began lowering the rig commonly used to commit bodies to the pools from the ceiling. "The rig takes up the entire opening. There's no way we'll know when the time to withdraw you is," she argued finally.

"Naphar will," Seto rebutted. "It's irrelevant, in any case. We must proceed."

Lifting his hand from the crank, Seto moved to the centre of the room. He stepped into the thin, metal box. It was open along the bottom and one side, and made of some thick black metal that hardly seemed brightened by its repeated exposure to the light of the pools. Bracing himself, he turned his head toward the silent woman near the edge of the pool.

"Pacias, if you would do the honour," he called.

The blonde girl nodded and moved to the crank, slowly continuing its course that Seto had began, lowering the box into the water. The water level rose and flooded the box, and Seto took a sharp intake of breath. Then he disappeared from sight. Pacias continued the movements, accelerating them as best as her weak arms could to limit the amount of time Seto needed to spend submerged. The Nocturne stared blindly at the hole, his full array of senses honed in to the singular moment.

"Now," Naphar barked, and Pacias stopped the descent. Silently, the black-haired man focused on the hole. "Ready yourself, Empress," he advised, "The light will reach him in a moment. And… now!"

The Empress began to chant, and slowly white light filtered out of the opening and drifted slowly to the pedestal. Pacias watched it intently, waiting for the full form of the card to materialize. As the Empress continued the incantation, the others waited with held breaths. Finally, the vague outline of the card formed. It was enough, but the Empress' incantation needed to complete before the magic would hold the incomplete soul in a corporeal form.

"Peace, Pacias," Naphar admonished, noting the slight sheen of nervous sweat of the small sorceress' forehead. "Seto can hold his breath a little longer."

Pacias nodded, but her eyes never left the Empress' frantically moving lips. Finally, she reached the end of the spell. She continued to repeat the last line softly, but the life energy from Seto was needed no longer. The crank squealed under the strain of the sudden movement, but Pacias frail arms drove the rig upwards. Finally, with one last groan of protest, the rig rose out of the water.

Seto stepped out of it, drenched to the core and more than a little ragged. He seemed about to say something, but instead he collapsed forward. Naphar stepped forward and caught the slumping form of the prince over his arm, drawing the royal form out of the water and towards the Nocturne's own drenched cloaks.

"I must admit, I'm impressed. I didn't think the prince had it in him," Naphar admitted.

The Empress came out of the chant, satisfied that the card was stable. "You underestimate Seto's resolve."

"Not his resolve," Naphar disagreed, "Only his spiritual fortitude. I can't say I would expect anyone to survive the strain of a half-refining. He's breathing, however. We should get him to where he may rest. The hard part may be over, but we aren't done yet."

"Yes. Hopefully, Serenity will be able to cast the card properly. Otherwise, this will all have been in vain," the Empress replied.

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Over the great sea, under the cover of darkness broken only by the soft twinkle of stars, the royal fleet of Kaiba cruised toward their objective. The new flagship, only commissioned a week before and now on its maiden journey, headed the armada. Known as the _Villicus_, the massive ship was nearly a match for a Venyoran battleship. It was captained by Nakir, the commander of the Holy Guard of Sandalphon. It was aboard that ship that Yugi Moto found himself.

"Where am I?" Yugi sputtered as he came awake.

"You are aboard a royal ship, over the great sea," came the reply.

Yugi strained his eyes to find the form in the darkness that had spoken, but they protested at their slightest use and he found he could see little. "Who are you?" he asked tensely.

"I am one of Lord Azreal's blackguard. I am speaking on behalf of Nakir, a man whose acquaintance you will likely make shortly. And now that I have introduced myself, I trust you will extend me the same courtesy. What is your name?"

In his daze, Yugi had a vague impulse that he ought to say nothing, or at least to lie to the man. But his mind was so hazy, he felt that saying his own name might be as much of a help to himself as it was to this other man. "Yugi Moto," Yugi offered, trying to offer a hand to shake and finding he couldn't move his.

"Yugimoto, is it? Strange name. Tell me, Yugi. Are you familiar with the Forbidden One?"

"Yeah," Yugi answered, unsure of his answer. He didn't know exactly what the man was talking about, but it seemed that the name was familiar enough. Suddenly, he recalled vaguely what the man was talking about. "I used him to defeat Kaiba, once," he added.

A strange, startled noise echoed from the shadows. "You… what?" the man demanded. "Explain yourself."

"Kaiba had all the Blue-Eyes, but I had all five parts of the Forbidden One, so I beat him." He giggled slightly, "He never saw it coming."

For a moment, the blackguard was silent. Then, he spoke again. "Yugimoto, what is the name of the Forbidden One?"

"The name?"

"Yes."

Yugi paused for a moment. "You should know that. It's on the card."

"What?" The man's exasperation was clear in his voice. "There is no writing on the cards, besides the attack and defence."

"Oh," Yugi said, as though this was a new discovery for him. He tried to focus his mind on the name, but found that he couldn't. "I don't remember. Serenity would know, or Tristan. Oh, but the Red-Eyes got Tristan."

"Where is Serenity?"

"She was on the boat," Yugi replied. "The boat got broken."

The blackguard grew silent again. He knew of the shipwreck that had resulted in the discovery of this boy. He also remembered that the others on the boat had ended up in the Serendipity Islands, and from there had gone to Venyore. It was likely that this 'Serenity' was with Prince Seto. So, they could kill two birds with one stone. This girl was a carrier of The Secret.

"Yugimoto, you should go back to sleep. You need your rest. I enjoyed our little conversation."

"Okay," Yugi replied cheerfully. Sleep sounded awfully enticing, especially considering the buzzing in his head. In a few quick moments, the boy had drifted back to sleep. The blackguard left the room with a few useful bits of information and several questions to ponder. More than that, he was beginning to hatch a plan.

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"Is he okay?" Serenity asked nervously as Naphar toted the body of Seto into the guest rooms.

"Yes," Naphar replied, "Just exhausted. Calm yourself. You are needed for the next step, Miss Serenity."

"What? I thought the ritual was over."

Naphar smiled obliquely. "No. The ritual allowed us to procure a card that contained part of the essence of Seto's soul. However, that card is currently blank. In order to make it useful, the card must be cast into a usable form by a summoner. You."

Serenity stepped back from the edge of Seto's bad and glanced nervously from the prince to Naphar. "Me? Surely there must be another. I'm just a beginner."

"There is no other. A human becoming a summoner is detestable, or at least it is thought to be so in Venyore. Few choose to do so, and those that do become pariahs."

"Why?"

"To summon is to bind another's soul to your will. It is nothing less than a form of slavery. Surely, you did not know this when you became a summoner. Nor do you mean anything harmful by summoning, and you use your summoning to great good. I know. I see you in this darkness, Miss Serenity. But many of the greatest summoners in the history of Venyore have used their abilities to become tyrants and dark rulers," Naphar explained. "So we do not support summoning. We use summoning cores, and only if we must. This way, the monsters that we summon are not subject to anyone's will but the commander of a craft, someone that they serve under in either case."

"But… I can't," she murmured. "What if I fail? I don't have the power to do this."

"Miss Serenity," Naphar articulated, "It is written: 'There is enough power within a grain of sand to destroy the world, if all that power were truly accessed. If such power is within so small a thing, how much more power do you have within you!' You have the power to do this thing. It is within you. Give yourself the chance to use it."

"… Alright," Serenity acquiesced. "I'll do it."

"I know," Naphar replied.

Taking the girl by the hand, Naphar led her down the halls of the castle until they reached the base of a tower. They began climbing the steps, pausing momentarily at each landing for Serenity to catch her breath. Shallow and steep, the steps seemed to stretch up for eternity. Finally, the reached the summit of the stairs and Naphar led Serenity into a circular chamber. In the centre, atop a small wooden stool, sat a blank card. Other than that, the room was empty.

"Is there no one else here?"

"The Empress is downstairs attending to some business of her own. And Seto, as you know, is in no condition to observe this. I trust you are unfamiliar with how to cast a card."

Serenity nodded slowly. "Yes," she answered. "I've actually never heard of it until now."

"Don't fret it. I will explain what you must do. Sit in front of this card and watch it. In time, as you watch, you will be able to see the image of a monster form within it. When you do, simply call out the name of the monster and the card will be cast into a solid form."

"It takes a summoner to do that?"

Naphar nodded. "Only a summoner can cast a card. Wait until you know what the image is before calling anything. If you don't, you may miscast the card and it will dissolve and rejoin Seto."

"But, we already know what it is, don't we? I mean, Seto said it was a..."

"Shhh!" Naphar hissed. "We cannot be certain. The Prince simply suspected what it might be. If you say an incorrect name, our efforts until now will be wasted."

Serenity nodded. "And if he was wrong?" she asked.

"Then we will have to find another way."

Again, the redhead nodded her acknowledgement. She sat in front of the card and focussed on it as Naphar made himself comfortable next to one of the windows of the tower. At first, Serenity found the shimmering surface of the semi-ethereal card enthralling, but its novelty quickly dimmed. She remained focussed on the card, and an hour passed by without any sign of change in its surface.

"The sun is dawning," Naphar observed suddenly, breaking the pregnant silence of the tower. Light cracked over the infinitely distant horizon and instantly struck the tower, and the air began to warm. Serenity wondered for a moment how Naphar had known of the light even before the warmth hit the tower, but the wonders of the blinded man took second priority to the card in front of her.

Before long, light had flooded the tower. Beneath, the castle seemed to be surrounded by an infinite sea of green, a lone iceberg against an engulfing sea of life. The clouds, tainted soft orange by the dawn light, drifted idly by and everything seemed a placid, silent oil painting. It struck Serenity that this world must have begun as Kaiba's image of a perfect world, and only evolved into a game. She imagined Kaiba, in his white trench coat, strolling through the virgin forests of the world yet uninhabited, a vestige against what the CEO's life was likely filled with. She imagined him smiling, an expression she had never seen the real Kaiba wear but which had often graced the face of her virtual version.

The image of Prince Seto, the virtual Kaiba, stuck in her mind as she returned her gaze from the window to the card. As she did, the image in her mind seemed to project onto the card for the briefest of moments. Then, she saw the monster take form on the card and shouted its name at the top of her voice. And then the card shimmered no longer, and Naphar stooped to take it in his hand.

"So this is the fruits of our labour," he muttered to himself.

Serenity nodded, looking at the card in the Nocturne's hand. It was a card she had seen rarely before, but she new Seto had a predelection toward the card. That's why she had recognized it: The Lord of Dragons.

A/N: So there's that. I hope it turned out as well as I think it did. It was a necessary step in where I was going, and the language turned out a bit more extravagant than I had originally figured. In any case, there it is. Why don't you let me know what you thought?


	22. Of Descents

A/N: To be honest, this chapter is a stepping-stone. I feel like I should offer with it a promisary note that the next chapter will be especially good. Not that this is a bad chapter. But really, this is a chapter of foreshadowing. Because there's a lot on the way. So enjoy it, but keep in mind that, like so much of this fic, most of this chapter to build to what's on the way. Because the climax is coming up (well, probably within the next eight chapters. That's soon, right?), and I'm excited.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! I'm pretty sure Kazuki Takahashi does. If this is not true, please inform me and I will call off my accountant samurai (the lawyer ninjas still won't return my calls.)

**Chapter Twenty-Two: Of Descents**

_"Magic barriers functioning at optimum ratings."_

_"All systems clear."_

_"Reports from the _Nebulous_, the _Kraken_ and the _Zaratan_, we are now entering target airspace."_

_"Initiating null space field."_

_"Inertial dampeners ready on standby."_

_"Visual irregularities well within tolerances."_

_"Energy cells at seventy-four percent. At current rate of consumption, stealth mode can be safely maintained for eighty minutes and thirty-five seconds."_

_"Cells entering cycle three. Awaiting ship wide silence on your command."_

Nakir nodded, interpreting each series of hand signals as though they were as clear as the words themselves. He held his hand aloft and counted down from five, and then ship wide silence was initiated. On a lodeship full of mutes, that meant telling the few blackguards aboard to shut up.

Leaning back in his chair, the commander of the Holy Guard nodded with satisfaction at his men. They had been forced to elaborate on the sign language the eunuchs used in order to include the jargon necessary for the operation of the ship, but these were the finest men in the Holy Guard and they easily picked up the new language.

Along the border of Venyore, most of the fleet of Kaiba waited patiently, preparing to send an ultimatum to Excecial Palace. However, they had been instructed wait. The _Villicus_ had a job to do first.

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Leaning on his massive two-handed sword, Fallacian looked the man up and down. Little light escaped from behind his concealing cowl, but he could make out the white teeth of a broad smile. He was already aware, or course, that the emissary was not quite human. What he had accomplished in such a brief period of time seemed evidence enough of that. But this seemed ridiculous.

"I don't understand," he admitted. "If what you say is true, which I have no reason to doubt, I should execute you, not laud you."

"I don't think you understand what an opportunity this is," the emissary replied. "Almost a hundred soldiers, but more powerful than you can begin to imagine. And this is the first time they've ever been united! The Tyrant-"

"See, there," Fallacian interrupted. "You expect me to trust this… thing, and yet you readily refer to him as 'the Tyrant'."

"A title he gave himself. Among their kind-"

"Your kind."

"My kind," the emissary admitted grudgingly, "to know someone's name gives you power over them. The Tyrant's true name is unknown because he keeps it that way. It is part of why he has managed to unify them."

"I want to overthrow fiends, not install them!" Fallacian roared.

"And you will! The Tyrant has no ambitions for your world. What he enjoys is… well, revolution."

"You mean slaughter," Fallacian corrected.

"Six of one, half a dozen of the other…" the emissary replied. "But now there is little you can do to resist any edict Sandalphon issues. With the Tyrant's help, you could fight Sandalphon head-on," he explained, crossing the distance between himself and the warlord to sit at his side. "Think. While the fiends do battle with the Holy Guard outside Sandalphon, your men will flood into Cobalt and defeat what paltry garrison is left there. You will supplant the puppet king, and then you will take the throne. Think of the good you might accomplish. With the power of the military and the throne on your head, Remiel would have no power next to you. Finally, right would rule again in Kaiba. And the people would turn to King Fallacian in the wake of this bloody revolution for guidance. And you could once again show the people the path that Kaiba was built upon. All of this is just within your grasp, if you've the courage to reach out and grab it."

"The promises of a devil," Fallacian murmured, not even noticing how close the emissary had drawn.

"True, but I've no love of my kind. Think, if we aren't wiped out in the battle with Sandalphon's army, we would be weak. What would stop you from using your own army then to finish off the Tyrant? My kind would fall to chaos again. Another evil killed, another wrong set aright? Or is that not your will, warlord?"

"Yes… the end will justify the means. And once that end comes, even the devils will not be safe from my righteous fury."

Shale's eyes widened, and he stepped toward Fallacian's chair from his place at the door. "Warlord, you cannot be serious! These are fiends! Base creatures of the lowest order!"

"A tool," Fallacian corrected. "In the hands of one who knows how to use it."

"Warlord, what you are proposing now is a brutal war! I was promised no bloodshed when I agreed to join you," Shale protested.

"A naïve belief," the warlord replied dismissively. "Nothing can be gained without sacrifice. Our sacrifices will be minimal. Think. The fiends do battle with the bulk of Sandalphon's army, while a few of our men, men that may leave the battlefield once the fiends join it, or perhaps stay to marshall it… Cobalt will not give resistance. We will lose few… almost none at all. If some may die so that many may live, let them die. Would you sit by and watch as Remiel's insidious hold tightens on our nation? Where is your pride? Your patriotism?"

"I love this nation, warlord. That is why I cannot sit by and watch while you destroy it. If you will not turn from this path, I will lead my division of the army against you."

"Shale…" Fallacian hissed threateningly.

"No, Fallacian. I've sat back and watched you slide too far. What happened to the man that started this conflict believing it was to restore balance to the triumvirate central to Kaiba? Or was power your ambition all along?"

It looked for a moment like Fallacian would raise his weapons, but it was suddenly unnecessary. The emissary had crossed the distance to Shale, and his hand was driven deep into the general's chest. Shale's eyes widened in horror, and he desperately struggled to find his weapons. But even as he did, his life was slipping away from him and he collapsed against the emissary.

"As you die," the emissary whispered so that only Shale could hear, "take some comfort in this. You are right. This will be a bloody war, and there will be no winner. War never has a victor, only one side that loses the least. Kaiba will be torn by war, and its people will die by the thousands. I hope that proves a comfort to you."

Shale fell to the floor, and as the emissary turned to face Fallacian he could see on the warlord's face the realization of what had just happened. It was time to control the damage. And as the way of the fiend was, controlling damage meant inflicting some more. "Two things must happen now. First, you must meet with the Tyrant to form a pact. And second, you must rid yourself of traitors. Sandalphon's inactivity to this date has been seen as ignorance. It is not. It is apathy. There is a worm in your midst. His name is Pyrite."

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"What exactly is a fiend?" Lieutenant Ijolite asked as he jogged to pace Fallacian's long strides.

"They are duel monsters, but they have been infected. You know that when a human is killed and neither bound nor refined he or she becomes a malevolent spirit. Sometimes that spirit settles on and infects a duel monster, and that monster then becomes what we consider a fiend. They are monsters, but with the intellect and will of a human. They are also remorselessly evil, due to the presence of the spirit," Fallacian explained.

"And we intend to ally with these creatures?"

"We are given little choice," the warlord stated. "Our allies are few and far between. Emissary?" he called suddenly, "How much farther?"

"The chamber the Tyrant has agreed to meet you in is less than a quarter kilometre ahead," the emissary replied. "Be patient."

The three walked in silence. Fallacian and Ijolite carried torches, but the emissary chose to stay ahead and carried no light source. His eyes functioned unnaturally, and he had to intentionally slow himself to allow the humans to keep pace. Finally, they rounded a bend and came to a makeshift wooden door fashioned from the top of a table.

"Be warned," the emissary called to them, turning from the door. "Among the Tyrant's many powers is the ability to sense dishonesty. Do not lie to him. If he asks a question you cannot answer truthfully, reply in such a way that your answer is technically true."

Fallacian nodded. Behind him, Ijolite shifted uncomfortably. As the emissary's eyes jumped from one to the other, he seemed to be searching them for something. A moment later he pressed through the door.

Inside sat a large table crafted from a deep black stone. One chair sat before it, and one behind it. The thin frame of a cloaked being occupied the one behind, however. Sitting, the being was more than two metres tall. Had it stood, it would likely have been two and a half metres in height. He was wrapped tightly in tattered, scorched black fabric. On either side, a large beast flanked him. One was even taller than the being at the table, leaning to stand in the room. He was almost three metres tall, bare-chested and hulking. The other was shorter, perhaps only two metres tall, but had a horn atop its head and bat-like wings sprouting from its back.

Without a word, Fallacian took his seat opposite the other creature. As a way of relaxing himself, he tried to place the minions. The larger was an Ogre of the Black Shadow. The other… probably Ryu-Kishin. But the cloaked one evaded him. He had almost recognized the form when it spoke for the first time.

"Fallacian Rising Wind. I am the Tyrant."

"Yes…" Fallacian acknowledged. He shifted in his chair as the Tyrant's eyes bore into him. It was obvious he was expected to make the next move, but he could not imagine what that was meant to be.

"Belial, have you instructed him in the way of the pact?" the Tyrant asked after a lengthy silence.

"No," the emissary replied. "I thought it might be more fun if he figured it out as he went."

"Never waste my time," the Tyrant warned.

"Of course."

"Now. I will introduce myself again. You will respond by greeting me by the name by which you know me, and introduce yourself by your title," the Tyrant explained. "Fallacian Rising Wind. I am the Tyrant."

"Tyrant of fiends. I am the warlord."

"Excellent. Warlord, why have you come?"

"To obtain the service of your soldiers."

"For what end?"

"To overthrow Deiprelate Remiel."

"For what end?"

"Peace."

The Tyrant hissed. "I hate the word. I will enter into a pact with you. As my end of the pact I will do battle as you command me to during my time on the surface, exempting only our right to defend ourselves. As your end of the pact, you will promise us one thing: the head of the deiprelate."

"Agreed."

With a gleam in his purple eyes, the Tyrant extended an arm as long as Fallacian was tall across the table. It was a deep bluish purple, laced with pink straps. Sickly thin, the appendage hung in the air until Fallacian reached across and seized it. The Tyrant had a forceful grip, and he shook hard on Fallacian's hand before withdrawing his own. "Where and when do we march?"

"The emissary led me to believe that you could get to wherever I wanted on the surface undetected. Is this true?"

"Yes. Most of Kaiba rests upon a massive network of caves the fiends know better than any others. We will be wherever we are needed," the Tyrant explained.

"Very well. I will be sending a force of one hundred soldiers toward Sandalphon soon. When I do so, follow them from beneath the surface and emerge only when the Holy Guard engages them," Fallacian commanded.

The Tyrant nodded. "We shall do so. Anything further?"

"No."

Fallacian rose to his feet, but the Tyrant raised a hand signalling him to stop. "Before you leave, I must converse with the emissary. Azazel will escort you to the surface."

The ogre rose and strode towards the door. As Fallacian watched in disbelief, the brutish monster squeezed his massive form through the door to await them in the tunnel beyond. Fallacian followed quietly, his mind racing. He was beginning to believe he didn't know to what he had just agreed.

For a few moments, the Tyrant waited in silence. Finally, he rose and stared down at the emissary. "Belial. What have you learned in your time on the surface?"

"I've never seen an era so ripe for the picking. War hangs in the air like a spectre, and violence breaks through the placid surface as a geyser on a plain. With this latest addition… chaos will be widespread."

"Good. Are there any yet that fight for peace?"

"Perhaps a handful," the emissary replied indifferently. "And even then, they are rebels and outcasts. Oh, and the hypocrites. Fallacian should give you an image of how many of those there are." The Tyrant grinned slightly, but the emissary suddenly grew serious. "Nevertheless, I did not expect you to enter so disadvantageous a pact."

"The pact is null," the Tyrant replied with a wave of his hand. "He made a pact with 'the Tyrant'. That is a title, not a name. I am not bound."

"As always, your cunning cannot help but leave us impressed."

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"Well, if it isn't the shish cabob kid."

"Funny, prince," Damien muttered as he sat on the bed across from Seto's. "What are you in the infirmary for?"

The smirk faded from the prince's face. "A half-refining," he muttered, rubbing his chest idly as he stared at his sheet-covered feet.

"Half-refining? Why?"

"We have the Left Arm of the Forbidden One, and we intend to summon a Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon to destroy it. I have two already, and we half-refined me to get the third," Seto explained flatly.

"Risky business. You're lucky to be alive," Damien commented.

"Look who's talking," Seto shot back. Damien glanced down at the mass of white bandages wrapped around his torso and shrugged. "I'm doing alright. Serbane got his due?"

"He was Brain Controlled. But yes, he's dead."

"Brain Controlled? Time to catch me up on what I missed," Damien suggested.

Seto explained most of the events that had passed after Damien's injury, omitting only certain personal moments with Serenity. As he reclined in the bed he sat upon, Damien listened in silence. Finally, he exhaled slowly and turned to glance at Seto. The prince was sitting in bed, his arms wrapped around his knees and his breath slow and forced. The white sheets bunched up around him, obscuring his usual black pants and bare feet. His torso, with some fresh scars, was bare. It struck Damien that Seto's skin had become paler, and his body seemed frailer than before. Though he claimed to be fine, it was obvious he was worse for the wear.

"… So now we wait for the card," Seto finished.

"You took a great risk."

"Not you too," the Dragon Prince groaned.

"Hah. Yes, I imagine you've heard that enough already. I'm sure you've fed them all the same excuses, too. It was unavoidable. Necessary risk. Your life isn't worth the lives of so many others, etcetera, etcetera," Damien expounded. "I have to ask: do you buy the same crap you're selling?"

"What? Don't talk to me li-"

"Prince, you know as well as I do that's not the reason you did this. You did this because ever since your brother died you've wanted nothing more than to give your life for some ostensibly noble cause," Damien accused as he sat up in the bed and turned toward the prince. "And I think it's great that you think you're such a damn prince, but listen to this: you must think I'm pretty dull to act like I didn't hear you and Serenity in here yesterday. So congrats, you won. But if you lead her on like that and then leap at the opportunity to throw your life away, you're not going to accomplish anything but leaving her cold and alone. And I know you aren't that sleazy."

Seto's eyes narrowed and he set his jaw, but whatever he was about to say was interrupted by a knock on the door. As Serenity entered, she seemed to sense the palpable tension in the room. "Seto… I have your soul card here," she began. "But… it isn't a Blue-Eyes White Dragon. It's a Lord of Dragons."

"A… what? No… I was certain. My brother was a Blue-Eyes… my mother was a Blue-Eyes… I should have been one," Seto muttered defiantly.

"This… suddenly makes a lot of sense," Damien started. "Your power over dragons. It must have something to do with the fact that your soul card is the Lord of Dragons."

"Is that even possible?" Serenity pried.

"I've heard of it happening before. In Venyore, there are those called spirit sorcerers that channel the power of their soul card to cast spells. Mind you, that requires years of training," Damien admitted.

"Perhaps we can ask Pacias about it," the redhead offered.

"It's irrelevant," Seto stated flatly. "We've made a grave mistake. We should have performed the half-refining before we retrieved the card. Now we've unlocked it and have no way of destroying it. We're vulnerable."

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The door of the brig slid open with a whine of protest, and the body of the small boy was cast in. Mako checked to see if Yugi was injured, but the boy seemed to be basically unharmed. Groggily, the boy began to toss and finally he opened his eyes.

"Ahoy there, Yugi. You look to be in rough shape," Mako admonished.

"Where am I? I can barely remember anything."

"I think they drug you when they take you to be interrogated," the seaman explained. "It should start coming back to you soon."

"Can't we just skip ahead to that part?"

The fisherman laughed aloud. "You've got to bait your hook before you can go fishing, Yugi. But maybe we can jog your memory a bit. I'm Mako Tsunami."

"Mako… right," Yugi acknowledged.

"If you think you're in good enough shape to hear it, I have a plan for getting us out of this crab-trap. We have to wait till the guard comes around next, but if we set our line right we should be able to bust free," Mako explained. Briefly, he elucidated his plan to the duelling champion. Yugi listened attentively, and finally agreed to the plan. And then they waited. The guard had stopped in once an hour since they had been there, and he had already been away almost a full hour. Half an hour passed in silence.

"What's this?" Mako wondered aloud. "He should be back around by now."

Yugi blinked, and looked toward the thick metal door. Quietly, Mako stood from where he sat and crept to the door. He delicately placed his ear against it to hear – and the door slid open. The fisherman sat stunned for a moment, before finally peeking out into the corridor beyond. "It's clear," he breathed to the sorcerer across the room. "Should we leave?"

The rainbow-haired youth slinked over to the door and took a glance out. "Seems clear," he stated. "I think we should make a break for it."

"Something's fishy," Mako warned.

"That's you," Yugi quipped in reply.

With a roll of his eyes, Mako stepped through the door and into the hallway. He glanced cautiously to either side, but it seemed to be clear. "Alright," he called to Yugi, and the boy followed behind. They moved down the corridor and followed through several forks, searching for some sign of an exit.

"I think we're on an airship," Mako commented finally. "So we should head down."

"If we're in the air, how are we going to get out?" Yugi responded.

Mako thought for a moment, and then shrugged. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

The smaller of the two furrowed his brow in unrest, but he followed as Mako led down another passageway. Suddenly, the two heard men coming down the passage. "Quick!" Mako hissed, "Hide!"

Glancing frantically to either side, Yugi finally settled on a door not far ahead. He raced to it and cranked the opening lever. The door lock slid open, but the door refused to open. "I think it's jammed!" Yugi called to Mako. The fisherman's eyes widened in fright and he drove his shoulder hard into the door. With great protest, it swung open. Yugi and Mako went with it, charging through the door and onto thin air.

Two holy guardsmen came around the corner not long after. The first thing they noted was the open door, turning to one another in shock.

_"If the door is open, it will disrupt the stealth field!"_ the first signed.

_"Close it; hurry!"_ the second signed back.

Quickly, the eunuchs closed to door and resealed it. Then, as silently as they had arrived, they continued down the hallway.

Outside, Mako and Yugi stood precariously on a ledge jutting from the side of the ship. They were less than five metres below the door, but it was far enough that it was clear they had no hope of climbing back up. It had been miraculous that, given the sudden change in pressure opening the door had caused, they had managed to gain the ledge at all. Beneath them, along the sleek form of the now-invisible ship, similar ridges ran. Both had spotted them before the ship had re-entered stealth mode.

"There are lines down there," Mako stated suddenly.

"What?"

"Beneath the ship. There're some tethering lines. I saw them before the ship disappeared," he explained.

"But how can we get all the way down there?" Yugi asked.

Mako glanced down, trying to replace in his mind where the ledges had been. "We climb," he offered.

The small boy blanched at the idea, clutching tighter than ever to the hull of the lodeship. It was at a relatively low altitude, barely a hundred metres off the ground, but it was enough to scare the sorcerer senseless. "I don't know about this," he groaned.

But Mako wasn't listening. Sliding his legs over the ledge, he cautiously lowered himself down so that he was sitting on it. Then, he arced his back and slid down even further, grabbing the ledge with his fingers. His legs strayed around the hull until they finally found another lip. Breathing a sigh of relief, the seaman set himself down upon it. Then he glanced back up at Yugi. But Yugi wasn't nearly as gung-ho. Mako was notably taller than he, and Mako had hardly been able to reach the lip below. There was no way Yugi's stubby legs would reach the lip while he still clutched the first.

"Come on, Yugi. Dive in," Mako called reassuringly.

The boy glanced at Mako again, but finally lowered himself down. Mako tried once to reach out to guide him, but found he couldn't part himself from the hull enough to do so. Wind and fear clutched him, and he could only watch as Yugi tried to line himself up, before dropping himself. For one agonizing moment he slid along the hull; his feet caught on the ledge, and his descent stopped abruptly. From the sudden jolt, a wave of colour erupted on the surface of the craft. Like a ripple, the ship's surface became visible from where Yugi had made impact, before disappearing again. The sudden view was enough to allow Mako to find the next ledge, and so the descent continued.

The two climbed down like that for some time, until finally they reached the edge of the lodeship. Beneath lay the lodepanels, and to get between them and the ground would have been a bad idea. Neither of them knew that, of course, but they had their own reasons for not wanting to try and get beneath the ship. Mako slammed his elbow against the ship, and another pulse of visibility erupted. From that, he found one of the guy lines they had been heading toward. He allowed himself to drop in free fall far enough and then grabbed onto the line; his calloused hands were used to handling ropes on boats, and so expertly snared the line. Yugi followed shortly after, and they began their final descent.

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Kaiba couldn't help but smile at the image of the Blue-Eyes his brother had drawn. The heat increase had driven the federal agents out, and had fogged the glass that adjoined with the Overmind chamber. Mokuba had been drawing on it for most of the night.

The night had been more docile than the CEO had expected. Federal agents had cut the power to the building, not realizing that it held its own generator and was self-sufficient. Aside from that, all they had offered were a few hollow ultimatums. Sipping his coffee, Seto sat down at one of the terminals. His staff slept, mostly, and only a few were idly typing at statistics or modifying graphs. There were only about a dozen people left within the game, and the main quest was nearing completion. So far, the test only had one major glitch.

It was unfortunate that the idea of providing Prince Seto with a body had proven impossible. It was becoming increasingly likely that the prince's mind would have to remain in cyberspace indefinitely. The only other possibility was to give him some_one_'s body, not unlike Noa had attempted to do years ago. That was a cost Seto was not prepared to deal with.

He wondered, momentarily, whether it was possible for the AI to become self-aware, to realize that he was a program. It seemed unlikely, and he brushed the thought away as a random idea. Kaiba would not allow himself to think that way. If such a thing happened… it would be likely that his only choice would be to terminate the program.

He sipped his coffee again and decided to pass his spare time be reactivating the rendering program. Having not looked in on his world since his alter-ego had approached the Empress of Venyore, it seemed like a good idea. If anyone was likely to be able to deal with the coming adventure, it was Prince Seto. The fact that Serenity Wheeler of all people was with him merely meant that she would be along for the ride.

Even as he became conscious of it, his fingers had set to work on the keyboard. He activated the terminal and booted into the VR operating system. A few clicks later he found the rendering program and activated it. It immediately brought him to the area of greatest plot significance, where Prelate Azrael seemed to be in another heated debate with the deiprelate. Kaiba considered watching, but brushed off the idea. He knew what his AI would do if left to their own machinations, so it was unimportant. As he brought up the search feature, he sipped his coffee again. The image skipped to where Seto stood, and he nearly spit the coffee across the computer screen.

"Well, that was unexpected," he muttered.

A/N: Not devoid of action by any means, but it really is just a build up. There is no way I can fit into next chapter what I want, but we shall see. In any case, you should probably come in out of the cold, sit in front of the fire and leave a review. It's the democratic thing to do… somehow.


	23. Eye of the Storm

A/N: I must admit, this chapter my dear beta Tawnykit truly earned her salt. Heck, she earned her salt, some of that hot pepper stuff they put on popcorn, a little cilantro… Many spices. This chapter was a bit of a beast to write, but it should please all. There's a little of something in there for everyone. Just a not beforehand, this chapter really needs to be taken as part of a whole. Specifically, as part of the next chapter. Because otherwise parts will… probably seem not quite right. Save screaming at me till next chapter. If you see anything wrong that's still not fixed next chapter, then scream.

**Disclaimer**: I own Yu-Gi-Oh!

**Disclaimer**: The preceding disclaimer is false. I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!

**Chapter Twenty-Three: Eye of the Storm**

"So where do we go from here?" Damien asked. He glanced around the room tentatively, scanning the responses of his comrades. Seto seemed totally enveloped in thought. He leaned against the wall of the bedchamber, his head folded down and his eyes dark. Serenity sat facing him, slumped against the bed. She seemed to be searching the prince's face for an answer, and it didn't seem she was finding any more than he was. Sagaelen, whom they had finally tracked down in the palace's colossal library, paced restlessly. None of them spoke.

"Well, we can't just sit here, can we?" the rogue demanded.

"Why not?" Serenity replied.

"Hng?" Damien grunted.

Lifting herself off of the floor, Serenity turned and met Damien's gaze. "We have one of the cards. Without it, Remiel can't summon the Forbidden One. We're in the capital of Venyore, the one place in the world Remiel would probably have the hardest time getting. Why not stay here?"

"How long?"

Serenity shrugged. "As long as it takes to devise some means of destroying it." The thought pleased her immensely. Since she'd first realized she'd be leaving as soon as this quest was over, she'd been dreading the moment that would come. Now, they could have time to themselves without definitively defeating Remiel. The perfect solution.

"I don't like it," Seto stated, "but she's right; there isn't much we can do at this point. Sagaelen, can I trust you to keep looking for a solution?"

"Sure thing, Princey-boy. I guess I better get back to that stunning library they have here-"

"Go," the prince barked.

Sagaelen nodded and quickly dismissed himself from the room. "Okay, so we just sit here now?" Damien asked suddenly. "I'm for leaving it to fate as much as the next guy, but leaving it to Sagaelen seems sketchy at best."

"We are in Excecial Palace in Venyore," Seto countered. "There is no place in the world Remiel would have a harder time getting at us. I have hold of the card, so there is no way that any spy he may send will acquire it. It seems we may finally have a chance to rest."

"Rest…" Damien echoed. "I'm not sure I remember how."

"I'm not sure I ever knew how," Seto agreed.

Serenity shook her head and laughed. "Look at you two," she scolded, "Here you're given a vacation and you're acting like someone signed your death warrant."

"I think someone did sign Seto's death warrant," Damien quipped.

With a colossal sigh, the girl turned back toward Seto. "What do you do for your own enjoyment, Seto?"

The prince thought, opened his mouth, and closed it again. Then he thought. "Would you believe it's never come up?" he asked after a moment's pause. Serenity stared at him incredulously. "Read?" Seto offered lamely after a moment.

Damien chuckled. "I think we found something the prince is bad at."

Reaching out and clasping him by the wrist, Serenity turned and dragged the prince out the door of the chamber. "We're going to go enjoy ourselves, whether you like it or not."

"Where are we going?" Seto asked after he had regained his composure.

"There's a garden on the roof. The countess told me about it."

"Where is she?"

Serenity rolled her eyes and turned into one of the central staircases. "Trying not to be seen. If you recall, she's not supposed to be here."

Reluctantly, the prince allowed the girl to drag him along until they reached the top. Serenity stopped so abruptly the prince nearly careened into her. Before them spread the great royal garden. It was massive, split into quarter by an irrigation system that was fed in the centre by a great spire of cascading water, falling from a marble pillar. It contained unimaginable vegetation. Brilliant red trees and silver bushes stood against a canvas of rich green, all encompassed by lines of cerulean water.

"It's beautiful…" Serenity muttered.

"Indeed," Seto admitted grudgingly.

"You like it," the girl scolded.

"I admitted as much!"

Serenity rolled her eyes. "You said it like you were surrendering to the Deiprelate's army. Common, Seto, let's try to enjoy ourselves."

"You'll pardon me if I'm distracted," Seto retorted.

As the girl grabbed the prince's arm again, she fixed him with a pleading stare. The prince met it, and seemed intent on staring her down.

"Goddamn," he cursed as he looked away from Serenity's giant honey orbs. "Why does that always work?"

With a giggle, Serenity pulled Seto down onto the cobbled paths of the garden and strode in. Above it, concrete pillars held hanging vegetation aloft. It blocked out the harsh rays of sun, and the air within was humid and fresh. The two strolled in silence for a moment, before Serenity finally broke it. "Breathtaking, isn't it?" she marvelled.

Seto nodded slightly, before leaning obliquely over the irrigation system and inspecting a small red flower growing along one of marble pillars. "Thought so," he commented. "It's a joybloom. They say there's no sweeter smelling flower in the world."

Quickly gauging that the distance to the bloom was too far away for her to reach, she called, "Pick it for me," to the prince.

"And kill it? I couldn't," Seto replied without missing a beat.

Serenity shot a scowl at him as she leaned toward the flower. She was nearly double over the irrigation canal when she felt a sudden push on her backside. An instant later she was sitting in the irrigation system, soaking wet.

"You… _evil_ little…" she seethed.

"What, me?" Seto asked, shocked. "How is it my fault that you fell in the canal?"

"I was pushed!"

The prince shrugged. "Could have been anybody."

"Could have been… we're _alone_!"

Seto glanced to his right and left lackadaisically, before giving a colossal shrug. "Sure. _Now_."

The redhead's face flushed an equally full red and she glared at the prince. "These are the only clothes I have, y'know."

"Perhaps it was a carefully calculated conspiracy to get you out of them. If you ask me, I'm being framed."

"I didn't."

"I got that."

They stared at each other for a moment.

"Are you going to help me out?" Serenity asked finally.

"I don't know," the prince replied with a smirk. "You've accused me of something and I think I'm offended."

With a chuckle, the girl shook her head incredulously. "Okay, prince. I'm sorry."

"You should be." Seto leaned over and offered the girl his hand, and a moment later he had freed her from the water. She dribbled all over the cobblestone paths, soaking wet and drenched to the bone. In an effort to moisten the prince in turn, Serenity wrapped her sopping arm around him.

"Now you're wet," she stated flatly.

The prince shook his head and chuckled, leading the girl deeper into the garden. "Just so you know, I have no idea what that flower was called."

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Desperately, the Venyoran farmer ran. He knew that the creatures were close behind him, but the village wasn't far away now and if he made it within the walls he would be safe. Leaping over a log, he landed in a roll and sprawled down the hill he had anticipated. Behind him, the wood felt unseasonably hot, and he knew his pursuit was dogged.

At the bottom of the hill he rolled to his feet, even as the Hinotama Souls crested the ridge and began their descent. The fireballs had come from seemingly nowhere, but he had no doubt they were servants of the craft he had spotted in the air for one fleeting moment. He scrambled forward and worked his way through the brush. The stone walls of the town were within sight, and soon the guards would spot the man and his pursuers.

Panting for breath, he drove himself forward toward the wall. Vines snapped and grabbed at his legs as he broke through centuries old brush, and his pant bottoms tore to shreds. Help was within sight. In a sudden burst of energy, one of the fireballs dove onto the ground behind him and exploded. The farmer flew from the impact on a wave of hot air, cruising through space and landing past the wall. The sudden immolation of the brush outside the barriers was enough to bring the guards to attention. As the next three living fireballs struck, they met a wall of shields above the wall of stone. The other two fireballs turned back suddenly, flying off into the empty sky.

The soldiers found the farmer lying next to a wooden shack not far from the wall. He writhed from his burns, but seemed very much alive. "Get a healer," one of the soldiers barked. Two of his men left a moment later. Kneeling by the farmer's side, the soldier scanned his wounds. They seemed serious.

"What happened to you, old-timer?" he muttered.

"Ship… in the sky…" the farmer groaned. "Invisible… but I saw it… for a moment…"

The soldier scratched his head. An invisible ship? It was impossible. Even Venyore didn't have such technology, and they were decades ahead of Kaiba and the Serendipity Islands. The healer arrived a moment later, and the soldier stepped away from the body. He quickly elucidated to one of his men what the farmer had told him.

"He must've hit his head," the second soldier theorized.

"Maybe," the first muttered. "We should report it to Cyrus."

The second nodded. "Of course. I'll get him at once."

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Serenity rested her head against Seto's shoulder as the sat together on the bench near the centre of the garden. They had walked for almost an hour, joking and talking as they hadn't since last they had been in Cobalt. Serenity remembered the night they had spoken on the balcony overlooking Seto's city. The warrior had told her about much of his life. Now, like then, he spoke mainly of his country. He possessed a passion, a fervour for his nation that seemed almost heroic.

"…And what of Japan? What of Domino?" he asked suddenly. "I'm talking too much. Tell me about your homeland."

"I… probably shouldn't," she stated reluctantly.

"Why?"

Serenity searched the confusion on the prince's face, but she couldn't invent a reason that he might accept. She decided to tell him what she could, without lying. "My home back there… is a small, cheap apartment. I have a few close friends that live nearby, but they never stop by to visit. I haven't actually told them where I live."

"So it's a crap hole, then. Are you ashamed of it?"

"A little," Serenity admitted. "But I don't think that's it. It's a crap hole, sure, but it's _my_ crap hole, y'know? It's the crap hole I earned under my own power. And it isn't great, but at least I'm living there under my own steam. If… if I let them see it, they'd be so anxious to bail me out. They'd be so anxious to save me from my misery. But… I guess I like my misery better than someone else's riches."

"That makes sense," Seto agreed.

"Back… when I was younger, I was sick and going blind. My brother Joey… won some money and paid for my operation. He was there for me, and I needed him there for me," she explained. "But now… it's like, I feel like I need to prove I'd be alright. Even without someone there to help me out, I'd be alright."

Seto nodded, jostling Serenity's head somewhat. "I understand. I'm the same way. I know the difference between joining with someone for mutual benefit and charity. I don't accept charity. What else?"

After a moment of thought, Serenity gave a slight shrug. "I… don't really know. It's hard to talk about back home, especially in a place as beautiful as this. That and…" she hunted for the right wording for a moment, "… there's a lot I want to tell you that I don't think I'll ever find the words for."

The prince nodded. "There's something I'd like to tell you. But words won't cover it."

Serenity turned and blinked at her prince. "What?"

A moment later the prince covered her lips with his. The two sat next to each other, touching only by the lips for a brief moment. Then, the girl drew herself against her prince and wrapped her arms around him. Seto followed suit, drawing Serenity against himself and clutching her tightly. Their kiss deepened, and they sat entwined in their embrace. Finally, Serenity drew back.

"Oh… that," she muttered breathlessly.

"That," the prince confirmed, and kissed her again.

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"I understand," Cyrus acknowledged melodically. "I heard rumours once that a prelate of Kaiba had designed something akin to this. Not as advanced, but this would seem to be an iteration of it."

The soldier nodded slightly. Cyrus was the captain of the guard of the hamlet they protected, and his worldliness was undisputed. "So the farmer was telling the truth?"

"I believe so. Send a runner to Excecial to let them know what's going on here. Meanwhile, double the guard on the wall and make sure we keep the Nocturne up to speed. If anyone can locate the craft, it will be them. If we can track the craft's movements, the _Amplexus_ can likely catch up with it. Invisible or not, there's no way that craft can stack up to the wrath of the Venyoran flagship."

Again, the soldier nodded and quickly departed from the room. Cyrus watched him leave, and shook his head slightly. "What on earth are you fools planning?" he muttered.

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_"What should we do? Some farmer saw us and now our position is likely known. Our Hinotama Souls failed to catch him, and in no time even Excecial will be aware of our presence!"_ the first mate of the _Villicus_ signed emphatically.

Nakir stroked his chin thoughtfully. His small beard curled outward from the oft-repeated motion, and his eyes narrowed in thought. _"No choice,"_ he signed back eventually, _"We know where the city he found refuge in is. We level it, kill everyone within, and hope they haven't sent out runners yet. Even if they have, all that they will know is that there was a craft near here at one point."_

_"Very well. Shall we use the summoning core?"_

_"Yes. It should be relatively easy to wipe out so small a town. Nevertheless, we cannot be over cautious. Summon the fiend."_

_"What!" _the second in command signed.

_"The Ultimate Obedient Fiend. We give it its command and leave it to its business. It's that easy."_

_"But the fiend is uncontrollable,"_ the mate reminded his captain, _"There's no way to limit its range of attack. It would be the same as assaulting the nation itself."_

_"In what way is that not our purpose?"_

_"I…" _the mate paused, _"I will do as you command."_

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"I wish you were right," Seto stated suddenly.

"What?"

The prince turned his gaze from the sky and met Serenity's warm gaze. "I wish you were right… about what you said about heaven that other day. I wish it were true."

With a smile, Serenity gave the prince a nudge with her shoulder. "How do you know I'm not?"

Seto's incredulous face said all he could have put into words.

"Ha. Fine, I won't debate it with you. Why do you wish I were right?"

"It's a pleasant idea," the Dragon Prince stated simply. "That upon your death you escape from this world. We are bound here, however we die, we are here for eternity. I think I like the idea that you actually get to escape somewhere. Or better yet, there could be nothing after death. I think I'd enjoy oblivion… just an eternity of nothing."

"Where I come from, a lot of people are terrified of that very idea."

"The same people who believe in your heaven?" Seto asked.

"Some of them," Serenity admitted. No one she knew was especially religious, unless you counted the pharaoh's fixation on ancient Egypt.

"I would enjoy oblivion," Seto stated firmly. He closed his eyes and laid his head back against the stone pillar behind him. "Perhaps I'm just tired."

Serenity shrugged, curling up closer to her prince. "Perhaps. What is it that has you so tired, prince?"

"Life. People. Time. All of it. Take a look at everyone. Each one has the potential to be something as great or greater than I am, and yet instead they sit and complain about their circumstances; not a one of them has the spirit to change it themselves. You, at least, try. You don't wait until someone comes and saves you," he commented.

"I have," Serenity admitted. "I used to. I was resigned to fate until my brother came and saved me."

"What changed that?"

"I realized that my brother had no more of an idea of what the future held than me. Actually, knowing my brother he had even less of an idea. He's great, but a little slow sometimes… I can remember seeing him almost die, and then I knew that he was mortal, and that sometimes even he needed someone to save him," she admitted. As she spoke, she realized that that had been the pivotal moment. When she saw her brother dragged into the water after duelling Yugi on the pier, she'd realized even her big brother was just human. "I wonder if you've ever needed to be saved, Seto."

"Needed? Perhaps…" he commented. Suddenly, the corner of his mouth twitched imperceptibly and he leaned forward toward Serenity. "Perhaps I'm drowning right now and waiting for someone to save me…"

With her eyes shut, Serenity exhaled slowly. She'd been hoping there was more to Seto, and this seemed to be his call to her. "I want to save you Seto…"

Suddenly, she was aloft in the prince's arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck and wondered briefly to where he was whisking her away. A moment later she found herself plunged into the water of the garden's canals and floundering for air.

"No, wait, that's you," Seto quipped dryly.

The girl hefted herself out of the water and glared dangerously at the prince. "You…" she growled. "I was just drying off!"

"Tragic."

The girl leapt at the prince, but the warrior was expecting it. He sidestepped the lunge and grabbed the girl's trailing arm, spinning her like a dancer and sending her twirling back toward the canal. Serenity had enough presence of mind to keep herself from another plunge, and charged back at the prince. She threw a half-hearted punch at Seto, who easily deflected it and spun her away from him. Then, as she stood facing away from her target, the prince wrapped his muscular arms around her and drew her against himself. Serenity struggled briefly, before finally giving up and pouting.

"Not fair," she protested.

"I will always be there to save you, little princess," Seto whispered into the girl's ear. "But heroes have no heroes."

"Seto…" she muttered, placated by the prince's body heat and familiar aroma.

"Serenity! Prince!"

With a jerk, Seto lifted his head from Serenity's shoulder and glanced in the direction of the call. Damien rounded the corner and strode towards the couple before he registered the image and drew back suddenly. He paused and turned away awkwardly. "I don't mean to intrude," he stated sheepishly.

"It's alright," Serenity called, drawing away from the prince. She missed the growl the prince emitted as Damien turned back toward the pair.

"Right," Damien muttered as he stepped forward. "We need the two of you back at the palace. We've received a rather disturbing report from a town north of here. It looks like Remiel is making the next move."

"In Venyore? Even he wouldn't dare. He's not stupid. The Venyoran fleet could crush Kaiba's in an instant. Any battle would be a joke," Seto retorted.

Damien shook his head. "Don't yell at me. Head back, they've got the full story. All I know for sure is that one of Kaiba's lodeships is in Venyore, and it seems like they've got some way to turn invisible."

"Invisib-… Raziel's stealth technology. Goddamn… Remiel knows what that does… Alright. I'll head back at once," Seto acquiesced.

"What?" Serenity called after Seto. "What will that do?"

"Follow!" Seto called. "I'll explain on the way back."

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Seto's finger traced the map, drawing what seemed to be a likely route for the lodeship. "Prelate Raziel, not this Raziel, but the last one, conceived a design by which a ship might render itself invisible. The design was relatively simple, even thirty years ago we could have implemented it, but it had one key flaw."

"Being?" Naphar asked.

"It functioned on a magical technology not unlike when a Dark Magician uses a spell, a kind of inherent magic that everyone supposedly possesses. When it ran, it drained this energy from those on board. If it ran for too long, it would drain more energy from the ship's occupants than they had. The immediate result was the deaths of crew members in order of increasing physical prowess," Seto explained.

"It just… kills them?" the Empress asked incredulously.

"Yes. And it can be just as harmful to anyone in the area. It was deemed too dangerous and as far as I knew the technology was discarded."

"Guess not," Damien replied. The rogue stretched and crossed the floor toward the map. "So, what are we planning on doing?"

"We hunt them," Naphar answered confidently.

Seto shook his head. "We can't even find them."

The Nocturne's finger brushed aside his dark hair and his covered eyes rose to peer at Seto from beyond the blindfold. "I can," Naphar stated.

Lackadaisically, Damien gestured to the map. "Even if we use a Venyoran lodeship, it will take us a while to get there."

"Then we'd best start," Naphar suggested, and turned toward the door. Pacias followed closely after him, nervously glancing behind at the group as they departed.

Seto glanced at Damien, then at Serenity, then finally at the Empress. The prince simply shrugged, before following after the Nocturne. Sagaelen blinked. "Well this ought to be an adventure, won't it? How fun!" he exclaimed. He followed the others shortly after.

Left in the room with the Empress, Serenity gave a slight giggle. "Okay… off we go!" she called and pursued the others. The Empress paused, smirking slightly. Then she too followed the others.

A/N: So there's that. There are parts that don't feel right, aye, but they will be made right with the coming of the next chapter. I should certainly hope. In any case, you should probably leave a review. It's one of the conditions of your parole.


	24. A Stitch in Time

A/N: And so we head back into the thick of it. There's still a world in need of saving here, right? And so here we have not so much fluff, but more of the whole action thing. This is an action/adventure first and foremost. This should clear up the one part of the last chapter that I'm convinced was sketchy at best. You'll just have to believe that this is what I intended all around. Because it is.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!… Yet…

**Chapter Twenty-Four: A Stitch in Time**

The dank, cold cell was occupied by a single figure. Since he had been captured, the mercenary leader hadn't said a word. Instead, he sat on the small wall-mounted cot and seemed to brood. His face had healed nicely, leaving little but a pale scar, but his spirit seemed to have been more damaged by his failure in the battle of Cobalt.

Footsteps disrupted the absolute silence of the cell as Raguel descended to steps. The blackguard's orange hair obscured his ears and hung in front of his clear blue eyes, but the orbs still pierced the darkness to locate the mercenary. "So what is your name?" he asked.

"You're the one who captured me?"

"Yes," Raguel replied.

The mercenary scoffed. "You were supposed to kill me."

"Lord Jophiel would not have liked that." The blackguard leaned forward and wrapped his fingers around one of the cell bars. "I am called Raguel. What is your name?"

The mercenary turned and regarded the soldier. He still wore his katana, and it seemed close enough that he might have reached out and grabbed it. The blackguard was taunting him. "Starke," the mercenary replied.

"Starke," Raguel echoed. "I assume you're a soldier of some sort. Mercenaries don't generally behave as nobly in combat as you do."

"You seem pretty sure of that. Fight a lot of mercenaries?"

"Some," the blackguard answered dismissively. "So, if you're not fighting for money, why are you fighting?"

"Honestly? Starke asked. Raguel nodded. "I was being well paid. But I'd have done it for free. I have no idea how so many of you go blindly on when the prelates are trying to do what they're doing."

Raguel blinked. "Which is what?"

"You think we don't know? The Dragon Prince may be in exile, but before he left he let enough of us know what's going on. Remiel is trying to summon the Forbidden One," Starke stated.

First smirking, then laughing outright, Raguel shook his head at the mercenary. "Summon the Forbidden One? Preposterous. The Deiprelate would never commit such an infamy."

Starke lunged at the bars and reached for the blackguard's sword. The blackguard, however, was not caught unaware. The blade was out before the mercenary had closed the difference, and the mercenary barely stopped himself from being impaled on the naked blade. "Don't even think about throwing yourself on the sword," Raguel warned. "Don't throw your life away when you might still be of some use to your comrades. But I assure you, your motives are misguided."

"How can you be so certain? Or are you only saying that because you aren't willing to face the possibility that you're the one that's misguided?"

Raguel stiffly sheathed his katana. He chuckled slightly, before turning back toward the stairs. "Stay alive for me, Starke. I think I rather like you."

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"Answers, Damien," Seto barked. "I've wasted too much time already. Before you were injured, you were about to give us some answers. I'm still waiting."

Damien yawned loudly and nodded a bit. "Sure thing. Well, from what I've heard you already know about the nature of the prelates, right? Can't be killed, etc. I'm not quite sure how it works myself, but indwelling people saps that person's energy. Every thirty years or so, depending on how strong the body is, they need a new one. The more times they're killed, the more often they need to replace the body. At least, that's what I gathered from Azrael's grumbling and what I'm told you guys uncovered."

"So, theoretically, we can kill them. It just… takes a little more time," Naphar suggested. The group stood in the conference room aboard the _Amplexus_ that Damien had been stabbed in the previous day. Only Sagaelen and, unbeknownst to the Venyorans, the Countess of Landstar, had remained behind.

"There's more to it than that. I've fought Azrael. It was… unreal. He fights with incredible skill and unnerving abandon. He knows he can afford to die, so he doesn't seem to care if he does. Even beating him once will be a challenge. I don't think I can do it enough times to weaken his host. Even if I do…" Seto shook his head, "they can just find another host."

"While we're discussing these things," Serenity said abruptly, "I'd like to know if Pacias can shed some light on the relation between Seto's soul card being the Lord of Dragons and his power over dragons."

Pacias shied away from the redhead and drew close to Naphar. The Nocturne wrapped his arm around her. "I'll talk to her in private about it. Pacias… does not like to speak to large groups."

Serenity bowed slightly. "Okay. Thank you."

Shifting slightly, Damien moved toward the door. "I don't think I know much else of use. I'm going to rest some before we get to our objective."

"That's wise," Naphar agreed. "We're heading to the town where the lodeship sighting was made. There may be a battle forthcoming."

Damien exited, and Naphar and Pacias followed after. That left Serenity and Seto alone in the conference room. Serenity rose from her chair and made her way to where Seto leaned against the wall.

"I've been… thinking about something you said to me. It's been… bothering me."

"Speak," Seto replied.

"Seto, why is it you don't listen to me!" Serenity shouted suddenly.

The prince seemed taken aback. "What? What are you talking about-"

"I thought you of all people could understand the fact that I need to stand on my own two feet. But even after all we talked about you still patronize me! I don't need a hero, Seto!"

Numbly, the prince shook his head. "You still don't get it," he sighed, exasperated.

"What, Seto?" Serenity asked dejectedly. "What am I supposed to get?"

"Why is it that you think I want to save you? Why did your brother?"

"I… he didn't think I could take care of myself," Serenity replied.

"No, he knew you couldn't. And perhaps he's gotten so that he wants to save you even when you can now, but that's… not what I want. I want you to stand on your own. I want to stand on my own. But when you fall… I want to be there to catch you. I know what it is to fall on your own," Seto admitted.

"… Seto…" Serenity muttered. She reached out and grabbed the prince's arm. It made sense, of course. He didn't want to keep her from walking, only to be there if she fell. Still, she felt there was something behind his words. Her eyes scanned his, and the prince looked away. "You're different from the rest of them," Serenity thought aloud. Something set Seto apart from the other AI's, but she couldn't quite determine what. "There's… pain in your eyes. Real pain. Seto… what happened to you?"

The prince finally met her gaze. They stood barely separated, the girl holding the prince's arm as if to prevent him from escaping. Aeons passed. "We should prepare for battle," the prince suggested finally and pulled away from the girl.

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The fiend's red, cordlike limbs tensed. Cyrus knew what would come next. The beast was predictable, if nothing else. "Down!" he bellowed over the din of the battle, dropping to his knees mere moments before the fiend's leaping body passed overtop. Cyrus rose again to his feet, his staff clutched tight in hand. But the fiend was faster than he'd expected. The eye in the centre of its forehead blinked, and Cyrus knew that it had sighted him as its next target. The monster's claw shot forward at Cyrus- and struck nothing. Cyrus had disappeared into one of four hats sprawled over the battlefield, buying him moments to find a spell.

The Ultimate Obedient Fiend had no interest in pursuing such quarry, however. Instead it shifted its attention to the rooftop of one of the still-burning buildings of the hamlet. Half a dozen archers had gathered, and each volley of their shots had ever so slightly pestered the fiend. This time, they would not. The fifteen metre tall monster blinked at the archers, and then the mouth in the centre of its chest opened wide. A massive beam of energy discharged as the arrows left the archers' bows. The structure was annihilated on impact, and as the fiend twisted to find another enemy the beam tore through much of the town.

Cyrus blasted out of the hat he had hidden in with reckless abandon. He fired off a Cold Wave magic card, freezing momentarily the bulk of the fiend's chest. Then, calling upon the innate abilities his level as a sorcerer provided him, he fired a giant icicle into the monster's chest. The fiend staggered back from the injury and tore the weapon free from its chest. Without waiting to see what effect his attack had, Cyrus darted back into the blazing town. The fiend charge after him, its dragging arms crushing aside masonry as it pursued. Swordsmen and pikemen that stood as the last defence of the shattered town leapt and stabbed, but the fiend swatted them aside with little to no thought. Cyrus ran.

The monster slowed suddenly, and then emitted a flaming wave from its body. It had used the same attack before, however it now it found itself in the epicentre of the city. The sorcerer barely managed to escape the flaming wave, but the town took another key blow. Cyrus leapt to stairs of a nearby ruined house and charged to the rooftop. Gaining the height, he quickly fired off a Chain Energy magic card. Magical loops of energy formed around the fiend's wrists and ankles and the monster began to pull against them. They held, it seemed, but they would not do so for long. Cyrus charged his next icicle. It would take a moment to form fully, and he doubted he'd have the magical energy to do so again. The fiend raged again.

"Come on, you bastard," Cyrus muttered. "Just give me five more seconds…"

A bestial cry of fury arose from the chest of the monster and the misplaced jaws opened wide. Cyrus, however, was no fool. He'd placed himself at such an angle as the monster's chest wouldn't be able to strike him. Finally, his ice javelin reached its critical mass. Cyrus' muscles burned from the exertion, but he hefted the frozen projectile at the fiend. His aim had to be true. With a faint whistle, the javelin cruised through the air and struck the monster's eye in the centre of its forehead. The other two shut reflexively and the fiend gave such a wail as to almost evoke pity from the sorcerer. Almost.

But the monster stood yet. Its right arm tore forward, shattering the magical bond that held it. Its arm swept through the wreckage of the town, grabbing a substantial portion of wall along the way. At the end of its flight the arm let fly and the wall cruised toward Cyrus. The sorcerer fired off a Miracle Dig magic card, tunnelling in a fraction of a second through the centre of the rock. It landed in a circle around Cyrus, hitting everything but him, but the rest of the house took the impact and collapsed around Cyrus.

The mage lay prone for some time before finally, with a moan of pain, he forced himself to his feet. Fortunately, it seemed that the monster thought him dead. That gave him a momentary advantage. Cyrus forced himself out of the rubble of the ruined house and quickly located the fiend. He raced through the town as fast as his exhausted legs would carry him. Finally, he found himself squarely behind the fiend. He scanned his repertoire. Only one card remained: Enchanted Javelin. It wouldn't be of much use now. He forced himself to try and form another icicle, but found it wouldn't come either.

The Ultimate Obedient Fiend seemed to revel in its work. It could no longer locate any foes, so instead it tore through the rubble of the burning town. Its arms swept in great arcs, tearing structures asunder and spraying the debris where the town used to stand. Cyrus narrowed his eyes. It was unlikely that there was a living soul left in the town. Still, to see his home of eleven years torn apart before his eyes… Cyrus readied the javelin. Just then, he saw motion in the smoke beyond. The form came into sight, and he realized it was the pale blue shape of the _Amplexus_.

Gradually, the ship brought itself level with the fiend. The monster looked up from its wanton destruction and glanced curiously at the ship. Even as it did, the craft's lodepanels shifted back and the main gun that ran along the bottom of the ship charged. It took only an instant for the fiend's instincts to kick in, driving it to swing at the ship. The craft's nose was swatted and it drifted backward, but remained unharmed. Neither, however, was the fiend fazed by the failure. Instead, it drew back and its chest opened, ready to meet the lodeship's cannon with one of its own. Cyrus did the only thing he could: he threw the javelin.

Shrieking vilely, the monster pulled back in pain and the beam missed high. Despite the injury, the monster wheeled and its claw found home in its victim. Cyrus was pierced lethally. A moment later, the main cannon of the _Amplexus_ blew the fiend apart.

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So Serenity was involved with the prince. Kaiba nearly laughed aloud. Of course, such things weren't unanticipated in his world. In fact, the Fate Generation Matrix was liable to have created a predilection toward romance in the pair. It was simply that he didn't know how to react. The fact that Serenity had been drawn to a computer imitation of himself, well, that was only natural. Better that the girl get it out of her system in virtual reality. But the fact that a virtual imitation of himself had gone after a Wheeler… proved that the character was farther from himself than he had estimated even at his most cynical.

"Hey, Seto, what are you thinking about?" Mokuba chimed in as he drew himself from under the CEO's trench coat. The younger Kaiba had been asleep on his chair for some time, and Seto had only seen fit to provide him with a blanket.

"Some statistics," Kaiba replied dismissively. "The test is running better than we expected, except for a few hiccoughs."

Mokuba nodded. "Yeah, a few hiccoughs that have you down here instead of in the observation room like we planned. Still, that's not what you're thinking about. I can tell."

"Can you?"

"Yup."

"Well, you're quite the detective, kid. It's just a minor operational glitch," Kaiba explained.

"Something I can help with?" Mokuba asked eagerly.

Kaiba chuckled slightly, "I doubt it."

"Seto…" Mokuba led threateningly.

The tall brunette leaned over and messed his younger brother's hair with one hand. "Nice tone. But you'd have to try harder than that."

Mokuba pouted a little, but quickly bounced back from the disappointment. "How much longer do you think it'll be till the test is finished?"

"Two days. Tops," Kaiba replied.

"Good," the younger Kaiba decided. "After that we should get waffles."

Kaiba quirked an eyebrow at his brother. "You're still six, aren't you?"

Mokuba shrugged. "Probably."

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The burnt wood crumbled in Naphar's hand, and the Nocturne rose to his feet. His black glove hardly showed the ash that coated it, for he and the others had scoured what was left of the small town looking for survivors. "Nothing. It seems that the mage who was killed as we arrived was the last survivor. It's possible others fled, but unlikely."

Near the centre of the ruined town, the Empress of Venyore stood in a state of near-shock. The hot wind of dying fires ran along the ground and swirled around her, casting her now stained-grey robes into a flurry of motion, stopping suddenly moments later. "Never before," she muttered. She cleared her throat, and it was obvious she had been crying. "Never before," she stated more clearly, "has Venyore been attacked like this. Whoever is responsible will be punished."

"That's all well and good," Damien muttered, "but we can't track what we can't see. Even Blindfold over there can't tell where that lodeship's got off to."

"These people will need to be refined. Perhaps we should begin loading them into the flagship," Seto suggested.

"No," Naphar answered, shaking his head. "We will give them a few days to rest. We'll return here in a few days to collect the bodies."

Serenity simply shook her head as her eyes scanned the wreckage. "Why? What threat did this town pose to them?"

The group stood in silence amidst an area that scarce hours ago had been teaming with life and joy. Serenity was struck suddenly by how quickly a good, happy life could be transformed into hell and then abruptly ended. A crack issued from the forested edge of the village. Naphar snapped into action first, drawing and cocking his rifle, aiming into the brush.

"Who's there?" he demanded.

"Friends," came the reply, and a pair of blindfolded, black-garbed men strode from the brush and into the wreckage.

"Friends too late," Seto corrected.

"I regret that we were not here to help these people," the first Nocturne agreed, "but we were given another assignment. Cyrus, the captain of the guard of this town, commanded us to follow and track the movements of the lodeship seen near here. We have returned now that we have discovered its destination."

Naphar closed the remaining distance to the other two Nocturnes and clasped them both on the shoulders. "You did well. Feel no guilt for what happened here; your presence would have changed little."

"Your report?" Seto asked impatiently.

The second nodded solemnly, "We tracked the ship for some time. Not easy, considering the rate it was moving. However, its objective became painfully obvious not long ago. Based on its speed and heading, we believe the craft is headed for the temple at Meikyou."

"Meikyou… The fifth card!" the Empress cried.

Sagaelen's jaw dropped. "You mean they know the location of the last piece of the Forbidden One? Oh dear, this is _not good_!"

"Really?" Seto snapped sarcastically. "Come on. We need to beat them there."

Quickly, the group boarded the _Amplexus_. Only Sagaelen tarried, and only for a moment. "I suppose this is what war is," he muttered. He took one last instant to take in the sights of the ruin village before rejoining his comrades. The ship took off a moment later, leaving the dead behind.

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The Tyrant skipped over rocks and proceeded forward with a barely contained giddiness of spirit. Ahead lay what was a near dream to the fiend, a battle to the death with the soldiers of the church of Kaiba. Behind, his army of fiends struggled to keep up with his brisk pace. Some of the larger had been magically suspended by the others, spirited away to some obscure dimension to hold them till the objective was reached.

"Tyrant!" Adramalech protested. "We cannot maintain this pace!"

"You will," the Tyrant answered back callously. "And I care not for your reasons against. It is crucial that we are in position in time for the battle. Those that cannot keep pace can come up here and tell me why," the Tyrant licked his lips, "themselves."

As they ran, the fiends crested a ridge in the caverns and descended into a high-roofed valley. Suddenly, the Tyrant stopped. "Azazel!" he bellowed. "Fly up there and tell me where we are."

The winged fiend complied, flying up to the roof of the valley and flitting across it until a suitable exit was found. Azazel disappeared entirely as it ducked into the exit cavern and reached the surface. It was not long until the fiend returned, however. "Tyrant," he called as he landed, "We are along the ridge just east of our objective. Heading due west, we'd get there in less than five minutes."

"Good," the Tyrant exclaimed. "Then we shall wait here. Soon, Fallacian's force will arrive to draw out the holy guard. Then, the real fun begins."

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"There," the Empress said, motioning towards where the lodeship, perfectly visible, rested on the ground. Beside it stood the ancient temple at Meikyou, a relic from the ancient times of Venyore, centuries ago. Vines and brush entwined the structure, which was a low sandstone form built atop a natural cavern.

"They risk being seen openly," Naphar marvelled. "Surely they must be confident that they are undetected. We will catch them unaware."

"Good," Damien interjected. "The whole chase thing was getting old. Now all we have to do is wipe them out."

"Get a firing solution," the Empress commanded the gunner.

Seto held up a hand, motioning the Empress to belay the order. "I would not advise that, Empress. Not only might those soldiers prove an invaluable source of information, but it would seem that at least some of them have entered that temple. We can probably take the lodeship without a fight."

Following the prince's advice, the Empress quickly had her soldiers surround the craft. The _Amplexus_ set down not far from the _Villicus_, and its passengers disembarked.

"I'm heading into that temple to stop whoever's going after that card. Who's coming with me?" Seto asked abruptly.

"I am," Serenity declared, and the prince nodded his assent.

"I will, as will Pacias," Naphar added.

"Well," Sagaelen started, "if we're going in, I'd like to go myself. Places like this just have so much history, don't you think?"

"This isn't a tourist attraction, Sagaelen. We're going in there to fight."

"Oh, but Princey-boy!" Sagaelen cried, "I won't get in the way! Please? Please, pretty please?"

The prince rubbed his temples as Sagaelen rattled on. Finally, he lost his patience. "Fine, you can come! But don't expect me to save you if you're frightened by an exceptionally large spider."

"It was a Jirai Gumo!"

"Whatever," the prince groaned.

Naphar shook his black mane and chuckled slightly. "Dear prince, I think you may have more in common with your friend the sage than you care to admit."

"What, like how we both have broken noses?" Seto asked.

"My nose isn't bro-" Sagaelen began, and Seto levelled him with a punch. The sage groaned. "What was that for?"

"Don't call me Princey-boy," Seto ordered dangerously.

The Nocturne laughed again, and then quickly turned to step inside the temple. Suddenly, he was blown back as if by an explosion. He clutched his head and reeled, falling to his knees short steps from the door to the temple.

"Naphar! What is it?" Seto asked, racing to the dark gunman's side.

"Spirits…" Naphar muttered. "The entire temple is filled with spirits. Malevolent spirits of the unrefined, unbound dead…. everywhere."

"Spirits?" Serenity asked, peering into the darkness of the tunnels.

"Their forms fill my vision. When I step in there… I am blind," Naphar admitted darkly.

"Damn," Seto swore. The Nocturne had proven invaluable in combat, and to miss him for what was likely to be an uneven conflict would be critical.

"I'll stay here."

"I… stay with Naphar," Pacias stated softly. She moved from the Empress' side to Naphar's, wrapping her arms around the soldier.

Seto opened his mouth to argue, but stopped. The moment passing between the two Venyorans communicated enough to let him know the error of separating them, so he simply swore again. "Fine. Serenity, Damien and I will go in."

"Before you go," the Empress called, "let me give something to Serenity. For all of your protection."

Serenity bowed, "Thank you."

An attendant handed something to the Empress, who then entrusted the card to Serenity. "It is the Celtic Guardian, a swordsman who should prove invaluable to you. Use him well, and perhaps you won't miss Naphar."

The small redhead accepted the card graciously and bowed again. "Thank you again, Empress."

Together, the three turned back to the temple. They entered.

A/N: Right. So that's that. I'd better get started on that next chapter now. You should probably leave a review. It would be in your best interests. Do we have an understanding?


	25. Double Edged Sword

A/N: This chapter took a bit longer than I expected, but with good reason. I did not want to submit this chapter without being betaed (I proved to be quite right in this desire, as the entire chapters is four point six times better now), and that proved difficult. For whatever reason, Loki saw fit to unleash a stream of plagues upon my beta, including pestilence, locusts and Gundam Wing. Gundam Wing isn't a plague, but it does consume time. In any case, she did a great job, so special thanks to Tawnykit this chapter.

**Disclaimer**: Kazuki Takahashi owns Yu-Gi-Oh! I am not Kazuki Takahashi. Therefore, I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!

**Chapter Twenty-Five: Double-Edged Sword**

The air was thick. It was a ridiculous observation, but to Serenity, the first few steps into the temple felt almost like swimming. Even if Naphar hadn't led them to believe the structure was filled with spirits, she imagined she would've come to the same conclusion by herself. Each of the four comrades carried a torch, illuminating the dark hallways for a short distance ahead. The air seemed resilient to the assault of the torches.

As the path they trod began a slow decline, Damien pushed ahead of the rest of the group. Restlessly, he cast the light of his torch on the walls of the ruin. "I've been in my fair share of ancient ruins before. I've never seen any without wall writings of some kind," he stated speculatively.

"I don't think you've ever been in a Venyoran ruin before," Sagaelen replied. "How do you know they even had wall writings when this was built?"

"Then drawings, something!" Damien said irately. "There's nothing here. It's too plain, y'know?"

"Be quiet," Seto interrupted. "Our enemies are near."

Damien nodded, but strode ahead of the group again. Suddenly, the decline stopped and the rogue walked out into a massive chamber. The light of their torches was insufficient, but the size of the room could be felt more than seen. No ceiling could be spotted overhead, but not a one of them would have denied its oppressive presence. Around them, walls rose only three metres before ending abruptly.

Seto looked aroundbefore leaping to the top of one of the walls. He had nearly gained his feet when suddenly he was struck by a blur of black and green. Tumbling to the ground, the prince had his weapon drawn before he struck, but his aggressor was nowhere to be seen.

"What the hell?" he cursed.

Not far behind, Sagaelen looked up curiously. He grabbed a small chunk of stone from the cold floor and tossed it up above the limit of the walls. The black-green streak snatched it out of the air, vanishing back into the darkness.

"I don't think we're supposed to climb the walls," Serenity suggested.

Seto nodded. "Agreed. Looks like we're going to have to follow the passages."

The group navigated their way down the tunnels, and the walls began to split and merge and divide into dozens of other passages and hallways. It took none of them very long to realize that it was a labyrinth. "I guess a bird's eye view might be of some use to us," Sagaelen whined.

"Nothing we can do. I guess they anticipated that we'd try that," Damien said.

It didn't take them long to begin the hunt through the labyrinth in earnest. None knew exactly what they were looking for, yet they expended quite a few possibilities of where it might be. Finally, they reached what seemed to be the opposite side of the chamber they had entered initially.

"A fork," Damien observed. "Left or right?"

"Let's head right," Serenity suggested, and strode to march down the hallway. Her foot ignorantly knocked aside a small bit of limestone. Seto never saw the trap.

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"Lord Jophiel, I wonder if I might ask you a question," Raguel said cordially as he met the prelate in the halls of the Royal Palace.

"Certainly," Jophiel replied. "I always encourage such behaviour."

"Indeed, and that is why I feel comfortable asking you, though I know it is not my place to ask. What is it that Lord Azrael has been searching for so earnestly?"

Jophiel turned to regard the blackguard, though he never broke stride in his brisk march down the hall. "Isn't that a question more fitted for Azrael?"

"Yes," Raguel admitted. "But I assume it has something to do with the deiprelate's designs. And I know that you are privy to those. I only ask because there are rumours that Lord Remiel plans to summon the Forbidden One."

At that, Jophiel did stop. "Who has said such a thing?"

Raguel looked down, fearing to meet Jophiel's gaze. He had no intention of allowing Starke to be executed when he still proved so invaluable, and yet he doubted he'd be able to mislead the prelate. "I… hear whispers of such things, my lord," he answered.

For a few brief, agonizing moments Jophiel scrutinized Raguel. Finally satisfied, he shook his head and chuckled slightly. "Don't listen to such whispers," he advised. "The Church has many enemies, but Deiprelate Remiel works only for the good of those in this world."

"Of… of course, my Lord," Raguel answered. He almost asked about the piece of metal that he had been given earlier that had allowed him to locate the boy on the beach. But somehow, he doubted that Jophiel had any answers for him.

The prelate turned and continued down the hall, exiting into another chamber. Raguel leaned against the wall and ran a hand through his thick red hair. Jophiel had always been a source of wisdom and peace. If he wouldn't tell him what he wanted to know, it was obvious no one in the church would. Still, something in the mercenary's eyes told him that, at the very least, Starke was confident that he was right.

He pulled the familiar piece of metal out of his pouch and turned it over in his hands. It was cold, smooth, featureless, and yet Raguel had seen the light that it produced. Now, it was dark. Whatever special trait it was that Azrael required, no one in Cobalt had it. Suddenly, the answer found Raguel. He strode out of the palace and into Cobalt. He knew who had his answer.

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The prince acted purely on instinct, and he was leaping through the air before he realized that he had moved. His path took him straight to the wall; he kicked off hard and snatched Serenity from underneath the path of the falling limestone block. The girl yelped, but Seto was already in a headlong roll. He rolled clear of the path of the block, but the floor did not possess the strength to withstand the blow. He and the girl fell along with the collapsing floor, tumbling down another story.

The dust settled. Seto had dropped his torch above and Serenity's had fallen when Seto grabbed her. The only light filtered in from the floor above, where they were separated from their companions by a two ton piece of limestone. It lay against the remnants of the broken floor, and even with the minimal light available it was clear to the prince that there would be no climbing back up.

"Are you alright?" he asked the petite girl in his arms.

"Fantastic," Serenity coughed. "What happened?"

"You sprung a trap," Seto answered.

"So you got to save me after all," she quipped. "You can let go now."

"Hng?" the prince grunted. He realized suddenly that he was still clutching her to himself, and he eased her to the ground. Leaning over her, he ran a hand along each of her limbs to ensure nothing had broken. Satisfied, his hand finally settled on her cheek. "I am glad that you are safe," he commented.

"Thanks to you," she admitted.

"As I recall, that means I'm only down one," he replied.

Serenity giggled, and then coughed again. Dust seemed to fill her lungs, but she suppressed another cough. After all, there wasn't actually any dust.

Producing a pair of sunglasses from a pouch at his waist, the prince quickly rose to his feet. He slipped the glasses on, shifting his entire world into a field of silver silhouettes. Serenity arose beside him, and placed a hand on his shoulder to try and get a sense of where she was. "Well, too bad we couldn't keep hold of a torch, hmm?"

"We'll be alright," he said calmly. He ensnared her hand in his own, running his thumb over hers, and gave it a slight squeeze. "Trust me?"

"Yes."

The prince smiled slightly and began to lead the girl down the narrow passages. Serenity struggled to keep up, but didn't comment. It was one thing to be led by the hand, but to ask him further to slow down would be intolerable. For whatever reason, the AI's opinion was quickly becoming very important to her. He twisted down passages until finally they came to a case of stairs running downward. Seto grabbed her shoulder to stop her and told her what was ahead.

"So what do we do?" she asked. "It seems like we need to head down to find our enemies, but our friends are above us."

"We descend. Damien and Sagaelen will catch up. Or if they don't, they can stay behind. It's irrelevant."

"You're just going to leave them behind?"

"We have no time," Seto asserted. "If we wait for them, they may unlock the card. And I can't let that happen."

Serenity glanced back over her shoulder and hesitated. Finally, she nodded. "Alright, let's go."

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Damien peered through the dust and nodded, satisfied that his comrades weren't among the rubble of the collapse. "Fine. Still, if we were to be separated, I really wish I could've been with the girl."

"You're telling me. Mind you, I would be thankful that I wasn't in that disaster," Sagaelen replied.

"You think he would've bailed you out?" Damien asked with a smirk. He turned and strode down the still intact section of the fork. Sagaelen opened his mouth to protest, but simply marched after him instead.

"Hurry up," Damien called as Sagaelen fell behind. "Seto won't be waiting for us, and they have a floor head start."

Sagaelen couldn't help but take a tentative glance around as he pursued Damien. The air felt wrong in the temple, and smelt heavily of death. There was something in the dark.

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"This might be an obstacle," Seto stated. Ahead, the passageway seemed a dead end. Nevertheless, Seto seemed certain that this was their route.

"Do you think there's another way around?"

The prince grunted. "Probably. But listen." He strode to the wall and struck it lightly with his sword. The wall rang out the sound of steel on stone, but the tone was distinctly hollow. "There's a mechanism to open this. It must be on the other side."

"So what do we do now? We could wait. Maybe Damien and Sagaelen will open it from the other side," Serenity suggested.

"It seems unlikely. But then again, it might happen. In either case, now's as good a time as any to stop for a short while. I need to think out where we're headed. This place is a maze," he muttered.

Serenity smirked. "Really? You can't find your way in the dark on the spur of the moment? Dear Seto, you must be slipping."

As he sat, the prince quirked an eyebrow at the redhead. "You're evil, do you know that?"

The girl sat beside her prince. "Pride myself on it. I learned it from you."

"Oh sure," Seto replied, "blame it on me. I think you simply bothered to hide it better before you met me."

"And how would you know how I acted before I met you?" Serenity asked sceptically.

"Oh, I can tell," the prince replied, leaning in toward the girl. "You lapse back to it every time you want to hide from me."

"Why would I want to hide from you?" Serenity pressed, inching forward to her prince.

"Because I'm terrifying."

"And how are you terrifying?" she giggled.

The prince's nose met Serenity's, as he replied, "I'm the worst kind of terrifying. I'm honest." He kissed her soundly, and Serenity leaned toward him. In a few short moments they were entwined together, before Serenity finally pulled away from Seto.

"You are terrifying," she said heatedly. "You understand me better than anyone I've ever known and I don't know why."

"Because," the prince replied, "I've been down the same path as you. The only difference is that I never had anyone to catch me, and you had too many. I suppose we could both do a little better on understanding who we need to catch us and when."

Serenity smiled. "I'll catch you."

"Will you? I just hope when I fall, I won't take you with me…"

The redhead brushed the hair away from Seto's eyes and peered into them. He was trying to say something, and she knew that if he didn't say it it might be lost forever. But something held him back. "What are you saying, Seto?" she implored him.

"I…" Seto began. And suddenly, the wall ahead slid into the floor with a moan. A blast of dead air spewed forth, carried on the not-quite-there voice of nothing. The prince turned immediately to regard it and exhaled slightly. "Let's go." He stood quickly and lowered Serenity to the floor. Serenity almost protested, but it was obvious that the prince had clammed up again. Offering him her hand, he led her down the passage again.

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"What purpose _does_ that lever serve? It doesn't seem to have done anything!" Sagaelen groaned as he lifted his hand from the stone bar jutting out of the wall.

"It must serve some purpose," Damien replied with a shrug. "We'll have to figure it out once we get further in. Maybe a door opened. It must have been something," he postulated, nodding to the shattered bodies of the lever's guardians on the ground below. They had been Dark Assailants; the weak zombies had proven little threat. But nevertheless, Damien knew they must have been guarding the lever for a reason.

"Or closed," Sagaelen argued after a moment.

"Or closed," Damien admitted. "But there's no point in lingering here. Let's go on ahead, we still have to catch up with Seto and Serenity."

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Torneko eagerly placed the bag of Mokus in his register and moved toward his filing cabinet. As the customer exited, the door swung shut behind him, leaving the small shop in silence. Quietly, the merchant filed his cards, humming some obscure tune. Once he was satisfied, he moved across the shop to find his lunch. He nearly screamed.

Raguel stepped out of the corner of the shop and crossed the short distance to the counter. His black cloak hung about his shoulders as he towered over the stocky salesman. He imagined he must have looked very intimidating. All the better.

"H-how can I help the most illustrious commander of the blackguard?" he stammered.

The solider reached into the pouch obscured by his yellow sash and produced the black slab of metal. He lobbed it onto the countertop with one motion and recoiled inside the blackguard-issue cloak. "Do you know what that is?"

Torneko shrugged. "Judging by the dent it left in my counter… iron?"

Raguel hissed at the shop keep. Ordinarily, he left such tactics to the blackguards under him. They were, however, undeniably effective. Torneko recoiled and finally inspected the piece of metal.

"It's… it's an indicator of some kind. The metal must come from somewhere specific, and it likely detects people from that same area. Then again, this is only a replica. Well, it's not active now, anyway. And," the merchant pointed the piece of metal to the west, nodding slightly, "it doesn't seem to have any affinity for the Serendipity Islands or Venyore either."

"Where else is there?"

Torneko shrugged. Keeping the slab at arms length, he turned slowly in a circle. Finally, he dropped the metal of the counter again. "Nothing close enough. That rules out the Terminus Mountains too. I can't think of any other place that we know for certain exists. Maybe it's from Atlantis, or Mithos, or Japan," he suggested with a chuckle.

Raguel's eyes widened, but he managed to hide his surprise from the merchant. He forced a chuckle. "Perhaps," he said darkly. He retrieved the slab with a quick motion and deposited it back in the bag. The blackguard left in a flourish.

Again on the streets of Cobalt, Raguel quickly strode into an alley not far down the street. He followed the back roads for some distance, eventually reaching a small, run down house. All the windows were boarded up, and the house itself had been condemned long ago. He knocked.

"Who is it?" came a voice.

"Raguel."

The door swung open. Raguel entered hurriedly and sat down at a small wooden table just inside the door. He looked at the small, dirty man that lived in the house. "Tell me everything you know about Japan."

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Damien and Sagaelen charged down the stairs, eager to make up lost time on the other pair of adventurers. As they did, they came face to face with their quarry, descending an opposing staircase. Serenity and Seto looked equally shocked to see the others. A moment passed awkwardly.

"Oh good, you're fine," Sagaelen commented finally.

"Indeed. Shall we?" Seto said flatly.

Damien nodded. Both pairs of adventurers turned down the last remaining downward staircase and each found their way blocked by the other group. For a moment, the image of inept cartoon cops leapt to Serenity's mind, and she stifled a giggle. Damien pushed past the other three with a groan. The rogue led the group down and suddenly called them to a halt as they reached the bottom of the stairs. "They're ahead," he whispered to the others

Seto hardly seemed fazed. He brushed past the rogue and strode down the centre of the enormous chamber. Either side was lined with massive support pillars, and the pedestal was clearly positioned in the centre of the chamber. Shapes flitted through the pillars and flew around the roof above; trapped, malevolent spirits brooded in the perpetual darkness. There were not more than a dozen holy guardsmen and only one blackguard. The prince broke into a run.

Behind him, Damien slipped into the shadows cast by the pillars. Serenity quickly conjured Kagemusha, sending him in pursuit of the prince. Only Sagaelen seemed unsure of what to do. He decided to recline against the wall. Seto's footfalls were nearly silent, but his arrival was still detected. The holy guardsmen readied their pikes for his charge.

"Halt!" came the cry from the blackguard. Seto ignored it. "In the name of the Empress of Venyore." Seto stopped.

"What?"

"We are here on the permission of the Empress of Venyore," the blackguard repeated. "Any attack on us would risk starting a war."

"You're lying," Seto said coldly. "We're here with the Empress. She's waiting outside."

"She is?" the blackguard commented with a smirk. "How interesting. Perhaps, then, I should rephrase. She will be certain to give us her permission to be here. After all, this is simply a retaliatory measure. Venyore violated our territory first."

"I've heard enough," Seto interjected.

"What are you going to do?" the blackguard asked as Kagemusha reached the prince's side. "Even with that useless monster, you're outnumbered six to one."

The prince simply shrugged. "Easy odds."

Seto acted first, lunging toward the holy guardsmen. Predictably, they lowered their halberds at him, but it proved to be an ineffective barrier. The prince's sword dived down, driving the weapons aside. Quickly, he spun between the two and raised his blade into the spin, decapitating both. He swatted the next wave of halberds up just in time to render the guards defenceless for the charge of the summoned monster. The swordsman attacked the first guard ferociously, his blade and staff tearing into the eunuch.

The prince, however, felt no safer with the monster at his back. A massive left sweep of his blade parried another three pole weapons aside, but the move left him exposed from behind. There was no time to finish the mutes. Instead, he slid through the wave, letting his trailing leg twist to trip one of the holy soldiers. He was beside the next soldier before he was ever aware of it, and the soldier was swiftly dealt a lethal blow to the chest. The move brought the prince between another pair, and they both thrust their weapons toward their foe. Seto spun furiously, knocking both back and parrying the blows, and charged past. The blackguard was in his sight.

His target, however, was not so unprepared as the holy guard. The blackguard held a mace in either hand, and met the prince's charge with one of his own. Obviously, he hoped to drive his opponent back at his foes behind him. It was a risk Seto couldn't take. Instead, he dove into a roll that took him past the blackguard. When he regained his feet a moment later, the blackguard had already renewed his attack. Seto met both weapons head-on, locking one in the spur of his blade and pressing against the other, forcing the blackguard to try and outdo the prince's superior strength.

"Stop!"

Seto turned, not because of the cry, but because of who had said it. The blackguard took the moment to distance himself from the prince, and Serenity quickly recalled Kagemusha. The Empress of Venyore stood in the entryway to the chamber. Beside her was Nakir, commander of the Holy Guard.

"What are you playing at, Empress?" Sagaelen asked uncomfortably.

"Prince, Serenity, Sagaelen," the Empress called miserably. "Let them conclude their business and leave."

"I can't do that," Seto replied flatly.

"Damn it, Seto, do you think I want to do this? It's your own damn fault."

"What?" Seto hissed. "How is thi-"

"You sent your friend there to Kaiba in one of our lodeships. Do you even understand what that means? It means we violated their airspace before they violated ours. It means that we made the first strike. It means if we act against them now, it'll mean war between us. I don't like it any more than you do, but I have no choice. I am responsible for my nation," the Empress stated bitterly.

"I'm under no such obligation," the prince sneered. He wheeled on the blackguard and readied his weapon.

"Seto please!" she cried. "Remember what it was like to feel for your people. I know you did once."

"I still feel for them, Empress. I fight for them now, even if they've turned their backs on me. If you held the same regard for your people, you wouldn't stand here and let these men leave."

"If they win today, we still haven't lost, and we may still keep any innocent people from dying. But if they lose, it will mean war, and many will die."

Seto's hand clutched his blade, and his knuckles turned white with force. Slowly, he shook his head. "No," he snarled. He drove his blade forward and up, aiming for the soft spot beneath the blackguard's ribs. It was intercepted. By a rapier.

"Damien, what are you doing?"

The rogue clenched his teeth and forced the prince's sword back. "Stopping you. The Empress is right. We can't risk war over this."

"I don't think you understand what's at risk."

"This won't be the end," Damien replied confidently.

"I won't let it be," Seto replied. He drove the rapier back in a burst of force and charged at his new opponent. His blade drove the smaller rapier back and forth in the first few sweeps, weakening the rogue's grip on the weapon. Satisfied that the next parry would be impossible, the prince set himself for the incapacitating blow.

This time is was Serenity's turn to scream. Charging across the chamber, she called out to Seto to stop. The prince glanced at her only briefly, but the scene struck a chord. He had seen this before. His sword hit the ground in a clatter of metal. Damien's rapier passed through his shoulder.

The prince staggered backward, clutching at the weapon piercing him. His mind, however, seemed entirely elsewhere. He struck one of the pillars and dropped to the floor, and still his gaze locked on something that wasn't there. Finally, he blacked out.

A/N: I'm actually almost done the next chapter, but given other technical difficulties (laptop related technical difficulties), it will probably take about the usual of time. However, I assure you, the plot will be twisty and the characters will be angsty and some parts will be fluffy next chapter. But that won't be for a little while, so you might as well leave a review. After all, the average person burns 700 calories while leaving a review.


	26. He Who Has Eyes

A/N: Ah. Here we go. Chapter the twenty-sixth, in which things get interesting. I put a lot of effort into this chapter. Well, I put a lot of effort into every chapter, but especially this one. So brace thyself for some angst. Because things are getting angsty. Admittedly, this took a bit longer than expected. The reason is simply that I was working on a oneshot that should be up soon. Y'know, if you're interested. But enough story pimping. That's not why you're here.

**Disclaimer**: Don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! Never will (or will I?).

**Chapter Twenty-Six: He Who Has Eyes**

_The prince was obviously beyond his foe, but the aggressor's reckless charges left the brunette with few opportunities to land the finishing blow. Blades rang furiously off one another as the bandit drove Seto back onto the balcony overlooking his city. Though the prince held little fear of defeat, it was becoming harder and harder to wait for his foe to tire. Finally, he swung his blade hard as the bandit charged and sent his foe stumbling backward._

_"You're overmatched. Give up."_

_"Not happenin'!"_

_The bandit charged again, and the prince heard a cry from the doorway meld with the clamour of steel. Seto's blade penetrated his foe's defences and nicked him on the shoulder, but it was only a glancing blow. He twirled with his momentum and charged past the enemy, putting some space between them to prepare the next parry. As he wheeled again, he saw his enemy was off balance. It was a golden opportunity, and Seto was eager to charge to claim it, but it proved to be a feint. The bandit spun and both combatants lunged for the killing blow. Seto's blade tore through flesh; it was not the flesh of his foe._

Seto's eyes shot open and he glanced to either side. The Empress stood at the foot of his bed. "Where's Serenity? What happened?"

"Serenity is… with friends. Don't be offended, she was the first by your side after you fell. It's simply that something… came up. Damien stopped you from killing the blackguard. They left Venyoran airspace not long ago with the card."

With a muttered profanity, the prince sat up in his bed. Pain fired through his arm and he winced, rubbing it slightly.

"The Countess of Landstar has attended your wound, and you should be back in fighting shape soon." There was a bitter accusation behind the Empress' words, and Seto didn't miss it.

"I did what I had to-"

"You did what you wanted, prince. Don't tell me you did what you had to. Somewhere between being denied your crown and being chased by your countrymen, you forgot what it was to be a ruler."

"And what is that?"

"To sacrifice for your people, Seto, and give up things that you want, that you need, so that your people might live. A ruler would gladly shed their own blood so that their country might be stronger, or their people happier. You put both our people at risk for the sake of one man," she said.

Seto averted his gaze. "It was never meant to come to this."

"But it did."

The prince shook his head and stared at a spot on the wall. It appeared that she was right, but the cost seemed too high. War would've been better than handing over that card. His gaze snapped back to the Empress abruptly as she sat on the edge of his bed.

"Prince… Seto, I admire your passion. But you're going to have to remember what it is to be the man on whom a nation rests."

"Why?"

"Because, Seto, you are the King of Kaiba, in title or not," the Empress answered. She leaned in slowly and brushed some of the prince's hair from his forehead, kissing it lightly. "You are strong, prince. But strength isn't enough. You need mercy, compassion, selflessness… Things that you were taught to cast away."

The prince placed his hand on the monarch's shoulder and pushed her away. "Mercy? For who? Remiel and Azrael, or even Raphael? I can't do that. First, I'm going to stop them. And then, I'm going to kill every last one. I don't rule the same way you do."

Silence flooded the air, and the Empress rose and strode to the door. "Then Kaiba will suffer."

"No," Seto insisted. "No, I'm not going to let anyone else suffer. I'll stop this. I'm not going to fail anyone."

"Seto, fail or succeed, people are going to suffer! That's life! That's our world! It's a crucible, Seto. Humanity is half slag and half gold, and only the trials and turbulence of life can purify us. You of all people should know that! You wouldn't be half of who you are if you hadn't suffered so much! And it's been hard, Seto, I know it has. You've sacrificed everything to get where you are because you believed that you could make a difference. Everything except your pride. Have you forgotten that? And you can make a difference, but you're going to have to give up on that dream world you keep holding on to where all evil is punished and nobody has any pain. Pain is part of life, Seto..." the Empress looked over at Seto and lowered her gaze. "Sometimes, I think it's the only part of life. Because when I look at you with that girl and know that you'd give your life for her, but barely give me a second glance, I hurt. But loving you has become so much a part of me that I'll gladly take that pain, if only because it lets me be close to you. I'd be nothing but a footnote in the annals of history if it would help you be what I know that you can be.

"I've watched you for what feels like all my life, Seto. I've watched and waited and hoped that one day we'd be together again. You might be great, Seto. But you're going to have to grow up. There are still more sacrifices to be made, and when you've run out of things to give up… when you've sacrificed the pride you cling so desperately to… even the dreams you've held all your life… you just have to realize that there are others behind you, and they too have sacrifices to be made. While I live and breathe it'll be me who makes those sacrifices. But I know that someday, I won't be the one suffering. And I'm prepared to deal with that, because I know that that's life.

"The next time you look at that girl, look at yourself. Think about how you ache for the opportunity to throw yourself away to keep her from sadness. And when you do, realize that if she's a tenth of the person you are, she feels the same way. Those who are noble embrace suffering, because they know it's what makes us shine. And those who don't are unworthy of your sacrifice anyway. You can't save people from life, Seto. Doing that only steals their chance to be more than just a nothing.

"But you are a king, and to be a king is to sacrifice. If you won't give up your pride, if you won't let yourself lose for the good of your people, then you aren't half of what you pretend to be. And I know that isn't true."

The Empress strode out the door. Seto sat stunned. Normally, he wouldn't tolerate someone talking to him like that. Then again, she was an Empress and they were in her nation. Moreover, he vaguely suspected she might be right.

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"So it's true…" Raguel mused as he spun his katana against the stone floor. "Lord Azrael… must have a reason. Surely he cannot seek to… to revive… to commit… It is heresy… blasphemy…"

The blackguard rose to his feet. His meandering thoughts had brought him to one of the towers of the near-abandoned Royal Palace. Raguel let his eyes scan the countryside that lay surrounding its mighty capital. It was the only world he'd ever known. He'd been told, once, that the Forbidden One was meant to be summoned when the world had reached the height of misery, and then it would start everything anew.

"Is this it?" he wondered aloud. "Lord Azrael, is this our downward spiral?"

He thought for a moment about how that struck him. Raguel could understand misery. Loneliness, most pervasively, stood out in Raguel's heart. After all, so many in the world were cowards, or thieves, or men without honour. Raguel found them revolting, and wouldn't tolerate their company. Still… the thought that the only way to save the world was to purge it…

"There must come a time when there is no way to save the crop, and one must burn the fields and sew again. But how do we know the path if you won't show it to us?" Raguel's eyes drifted skyward, and for a moment it seemed as though the Creator was looking back at him. "Do I follow? All my life I've looked to the Deiprelate and the prelates to show me how to live. Have I not lived with honour? No man can look down on me!"

Raguel's eyes fell back to those toiling in the city below. "Can we not be redeemed? Tell me the path to walk and I shall walk it. Teach me the principles to live by and I shall honour them. But this… this…"

It seemed too cold, too calculating. It was true that the Creator would know better than he the hearts of the people, but even in a heretical mercenary like Starke Raguel saw the hope for redemption. But… he only knew one path. "What else can I do? Surely the Creator cannot be wrong. I… must consult the Deiprelate. Yes… I will ask Remiel."

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"Well, I hadn't expected to see you again," Seto commented wryly as he pulled himself out of the bed. His side flared in pain again, but he winced it off.

"Yeah, well," Yugi scratched the back of his head. "I'm not surprised, after what happened on that boat…"

Serenity smiled broadly. "Apparently, he washed back to shore. Isn't that wonderful?"

The prince glanced at the girl, and then at the young sorcerer. "Wonderful," he echoed. The girl caught his tone, but didn't say anything.

"He's still seems to be a little under the weather," Mako commented as he entered the room. He nodded slightly to the prince, but seemed more concerned with the young boy. "After all, he did get his boat rocked a little. They seemed pretty interested in interrogating him."

"Interrogating? Why?" Seto asked brusquely.

"Gee, I don't really remember," Yugi admitted. "It's all a little hazy still."

"Figures," Seto muttered as made his way to the door. "Can't keep your wits about you when it matters."

"Seto," Serenity said. The prince glanced back and accepted the reprimand, before proceeding out into the complex.

"That's not Seto Kaiba?" Mako asked, stunned. "I think he's a sea-spot reflection."

Serenity simply nodded a little. "Sometimes…"

Mako shrugged, and then laughed loudly. "I think we might be the only players left, all gathered together like this. Fish of a kind school together, right Yugi?"

The small boy blinked a little, and Mako quirked an eyebrow at him. Finally, Yugi smiled broadly. He replied, "Yup. Sure thing."

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"Kaiba," Kaiba grunted as he flipped open his cell phone.

"Mr. Kaiba, this is Detective Borland-"

"What do you want?" Kaiba asked curtly as he strode down the steps from the control room onto the main floor. Mokuba had the situation handled in the control room, and the CEO didn't feel his entire staff needed to know about this conversation.

"Isn't that obvious?"

"If you want to get in, you can't. What else?"

"Mr. Kaiba, I represent the Japanese government and-"

"I don't care," Kaiba interjected. "I'm running a business. Now, if you want to try and bash down my doors, go ahead, but until I hear from a federal judge that you're getting in here, I think I'll keep the deadbolt on."

"We don't care about your business Mr. Kaiba," the detective asserted, clearly annoyed. "This is about you detaining people without the right-"

"Detaining? What are you talking about?"

"We were told by an inside source that you are detaining a girl there against her will and-"

Kaiba hung up. "Mokuba!" he called as he strode back toward the control centre.

"Yes, Seto?"

"When did Taylor leave?"

Mokuba scratched his head. "Tristan? I don't know. He was still here when we first started having problems with the AI. I can check with security."

"Don't bother," Kaiba replied. "He's still here."

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Yugi stared out the window in silence. He seemed different to Serenity, but she understood what being alone, probably tortured, in a world like this might mean. Then again, his pain setting was off, so she wondered how bad the torture might have been. She joined her friend by the window.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" she asked.

Yugi nodded and forced a smile. "Yep."

"Do you remember anything about what they asked you?"

"Nothing we both don't know."

Serenity blinked. "Huh?"

"They wanted to know the name of the Forbidden One," Yugi explained. "I guess they must not have it."

"Did you tell them?"

"No. But you and I both know, right? I mean, you do know it."

"Of course I do," Serenity replied forcefully.

"Really?" Yugi asked with a mischievous glint in his eye. "I don't think you do."

"Oh, come on," she shot back. "I may not be great at duel monsters, but I know what Exodia's name is." Serenity blinked and looked around the room. Relieved by the fact that there was no one else there, she giggled. "Woops. Don't want to do that."

Yugi laughed. "Yeah, I guess not."

"Am I interrupting?" Seto asked from the doorway.

Serenity smiled brightly at the prince. "No, not at all. I've just missed Yugi these last couple of days. It's nice to have him back."

"Indeed," Seto replied stiffly. He stepped into the room and nodded toward the sorcerer, who smiled back at him. "We're still sitting on the last card, so there isn't any sense going anywhere."

"Is it safe?" Yugi asked earnestly.

Seto nodded. "It's in the possession of Regent Alufin at the moment, and she's not likely to give it up to anyone. Even Remiel wouldn't consider going this far into Venyore. It's safe."

"As long as we can hold onto that card, we should be able to keep them from summoning the Forbidden One, right?" Serenity chimed in.

Again, the prince nodded. He eyed Yugi again, and then looked back toward the young redhead. "Since we have nothing better to do, I thought you might want to visit the library in the palace."

Serenity smiled at the prince. "Sure, Seto, I'd love to."

Yugi blinked, and grinned slightly. This was an unexpected turn of events.

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"Something the matter, Seto?"

"No," the prince said. "I was… thinking."

"I guess you could stand to do that a little bit more," Serenity quipped.

Seto smirked slightly. "I suppose so. I acted rashly in the temple."

"You… did what you thought was right. Even if you didn't think things through, you should always do what you think is right. That's what my brother would say, anyway."

"Do you miss him?"

Serenity looked at the prince and thought, and then smiled broadly and nodded. "Yep. Sure do. But it's alright, because he's okay. After all, if I broke down and cried because my big brother wasn't here, I'd still be a little girl."

"Which you aren't," Seto finished. He glanced around at the massive bookshelves and wrapped his arm around the short girl. "I've been infantile, though. Always wanting to have my way and unwilling to compromise."

"Is that really so bad?"

"I'm not in a position where I get to make mistakes," Seto stated.

Serenity nodded. "Well, yes, but you're only human, right?"

"I don't make excuses. I made a mistake. I don't intend to make any more."

With a hop, Serenity distanced herself from the prince and took his hands in hers, leaning back ever so slightly. "Well, isn't that still wanting to have your way? I mean, you're going to make mistakes, aren't you? So what good will denying that do?"

"Forget it," Seto muttered. "You simply don't understand the cost of failure."

"What cost?"

"Death, Serenity," the prince answered fiercely. "When I fail, people die. I won't make any more mistakes. As a king, I'll do what I have to do."

"Seto… You don't have to protect me, remember? I know, you want to be there for me, but I am my own person. I can fight for myself. Come on, cheer up, would you?"

"…Right," Seto admitted. With a playful jerk he drew the girl in close to himself and glanced down at her. She smiled brightly at him, and her eyes shone with affection. He was reminded then why he had been so interested in her in the first place. She was so innocent, as though she were untouched by the horror of the world they lived in. Though she'd been in battle, she was unscarred, both physically and emotionally. Her eyes had shed no tears. There was no accusation in those eyes, no trace of his failures. He didn't see Mokuba, or his mother or father, all he saw was her.

He cradled the back of her head and stared at her, and she stuck her tongue out, teasing him. With a sudden motion his mouth was against hers, and he kissed her soundly. She melted toward him, and the two embraced between the bookshelves of the Empress' library. One kiss turned to many and she pushed him back against the musty shelves. His hands drew her to him, and she kissed his jaw repeatedly, warming up to the man. Even if he proved to be nothing more than a momentary dream, she wanted to seize the joy of the moment.

The passion of the moment subsided, and Serenity laid her head on Seto's chest. "I'm beginning to understand what you see in this palace," the prince quipped breathlessly.

Serenity smiled again, only for a moment. The brevity of it all washed over her, and she realized that within a day or two she'd be leaving this world, and her prince, behind. There was something attractive about the idea of going home, even to her dingy apartment and her ceaseless job hunt, but there was something here now. She cared about this world suddenly, even if it was just an illusion. It was amazing to think that someone as callous as Kaiba had created such a world, but nevertheless it had come from his mind. She wondered if the failures that seemed to torment her prince were of Kaiba's imagination, too. Logically, they would have to be. So what were Kaiba's failures, then? After all, he was wildly successful, famous and admired. Was it just that he had lost to Yugi? Did that torment Kaiba, or was there something worse than that in his past?

She felt Seto's arms around her, and she snuggled into them. The prince seemed driven to protect her, but there was no pity or condescension in his grasp. He wasn't trying to hold onto her because she needed protection, but because he was afraid she might slip out of his grasp, like a scent on the breeze. Even knowing as little of his past as she did, it was obvious that that had happened before.

"Tell me about your brother," she asked quietly.

Though she couldn't see Seto's face, she could feel the change in his mood. Nevertheless, the prince answered, "He wasn't unlike you. We'd lived a hard life, both of us. Princes need to be in touch with their people, and we had seen among the most terrible things you might image seeing. Death, misery, hatred… But Mokuba remained unaffected. Not that he didn't care… we both felt for those people. Mokuba, though, saw their joy as vividly as their misery. He was always happy.

"He got excited over the smallest things. Sparring made him ecstatic, and he was passionate about summoning and spell casting. Hell, he'd get excited over what we were having for dinner…" Seto trailed off. "He was innocent…"

"Why did they send assassins?"

"They were Azrael's men. I knew from the sashes they wore that they were blackguard, but I assumed that the Deiprelate was ignorant of Azrael's actions. I was probably wrong. They wanted to kill the princes because King Aildren was already incapacitated. Killing us would've meant they could install whomever they wanted."

Serenity understood. But it seemed somehow curious that two assassins could infiltrate the Royal Palace and reach both princes. "Were there just not enough guards?"

The sudden squeeze Seto gave her seemed to communicate an answer in itself. A moment later he let her go and distanced himself from her, walking to another section of books.

"I'm sorry… I should've realized it was a sensitive subject," she apologized.

Footsteps echoed down the hallway, and the pair turned toward the entrance to the library. The door swung open and the Countess of Landstar rushed in. Serenity called out to her, and she managed to locate the two in the rows and rows of shelves. Her eyes were wide, and she seemed shocked.

"What is it?" Seto demanded.

"Get down to the lodeship bay. It would seem we've got a rat."

Seto was past her even before she'd finished the sentence. Serenity raced after him, and the group twisted down the serpentine hallways of the castle and finally to the bay. Sagaelen stood at the far edge, back to a lengthy drop from the bay, held back by Yugi. The sorcerer had his newly acquired staff angled at the foe, and Sagaelen did not seem ready to fight.

"Your friend betrayed us, prince," Yugi shot accusingly as Seto charged into the room. "He gave the card to some winged duel monster, and then it flew off."

"But… I didn't!" Sagaelen protested.

"Sagaelen…" Seto growled. "Why? What did you get out of this? Some new book, or artefact, or other useless nonsense? Or were you just interested in acquiring some empirical data?"

"Seto-boy…"

"I don't understand," Serenity murmured.

The prince drew his sword. "So your loyalty was to your research instead of your nation, or your allies? Maybe it's true, what they said about you sacrificing your wife so that you could acquire that ancient artefact!"

"I never! Watch yourself, prince!"

"Do you even realize what you've done!"

"Seto!" Naphar called from the doorway. "We've got an infiltrator."

"You're a little late," the prince snapped.

Naphar motioned to Yugi. "Who is this?"

"Oh, um, that's Yugi. He was the friend we lost at sea, but he's back now!" Serenity chimed in.

The Nocturne strode through the room and put himself between Sagaelen and Yugi. "It is written, 'He who has eyes, let him see,' as well as, 'Justice finds he whose path crosses the righteous.' I say we execute the traitor."

Seto glared at Sagaelen and nodded slowly. "Agreed."

Naphar drew his rifle and spun on the target. Serenity screamed loudly, but it was deafened out by the blast of the gun. Yugi fell to the floor.

Seto grunted and lunged for the Nocturne, and Serenity was close on his heels. Both stumbled to a halt as they watched what followed. The sorcerer's collapsed body twitched twice – and reverted back into a Copycat.

"'He who has eyes, let him see,'" Naphar repeated.

Serenity gasped, "Oh, no…"

Instinctively, the prince wrapped his arms around the girl. After seeing how excited she had been about the return of her friend, he knew this might devastate her. "He's still alive," he assured her.

"It isn't that," she said. "I told him its name."

A/N: I figure that warrants a dun-dun-dun. I'm finally at the point where there are no more gaps in the storyline to be worked out, so it should get very interesting from here. Anyway, a review would be much appreciated. Bonus points for constructive criticism.


	27. Reflection and Deflection

A/N: This chapter is a marked improvement over its original form, thanks to an excellent (if not timely) job by my beta. It's, well, a tad dry still, but one of those necessary evils. In any case, I'm as happy with it as I think I can be, and that's actually pretty happy. So enjoy.

**Disclaimer**: Own Yu-Gi-Oh, I do not.

**Chapter Twenty-Seven: Reflection and Deflection**

"Serenity?" Naphar gawked in the wake of the admission. "You don't mean…"

"I… told him… the impostor… the name of the Forbidden One. I thought he was Yugi…" Serenity's eyes began to tear up.

"It isn't your fault," Naphar assured her. "Without the true sight, there was no way any of you could have known."

Serenity nodded, but she was already aware of the fact that Seto had let go of her. She turned to look at the warrior, who seemed stunned by the information. "Seto?" she called softly.

The prince hadn't lifted his eyes from the floor. He shook his head slightly, and then looked up at Serenity. His eyes welled full of accusation, even rage. "No more secrets? No more lies? This is what you meant?"

"I couldn't tell you. You wouldn't have-"

"Forget it," he muttered. The Dragon Prince turned with a flick of his cloak and stormed back into the palace.

"Ready the _Amplexus_!" he called as he left. "We're going to Kaiba."

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The ship lurched out of the dock and began its trek to Kaiba. Serenity stood near the window of the lodeship. She and Seto hadn't spoken since the fallout at the dock. He just stood rigidly, staring into space or issuing commands. In fact, everyone seemed to be in a daze. Only Naphar seemed unfazed, and even he seemed to be continually quoting archaic scriptures to himself. For them, the magnitude of what had happened must've been sinking in. Remiel had all of the parts required for the summoning of the Forbidden One. The battle was all but over.

A strange kind of understanding had passed between Sagaelen and Seto, and the two each seemed to acknowledge an unspoken apology on the prince's behalf. Still, even Sagaelen lacked any kind of cheer. Perhaps it was part of whatever unexplained memory Seto had awoken when he'd thrown his accusation at the sage.

A quick search of the palace had located neither Yugi nor Mako. It was obvious, at least, that from the moment Yugi had re-entered their midst, he'd been a Copycat. Whether the same could be said of Mako, no one was certain.

Seto's mind remained more a tumult of activity than anyone else's. The day had fed him more for thought than he'd ever wanted. Most of all, the harsh words of the Empress repeated in his mind. Had he really been so immature? Was he so wrong? It might have been foolish, wanting Raphael back and wanting him to pay for his betrayal, or wanting to prevent anyone from suffering and being unwilling to sacrifice his pride. But he'd done what he had to, just as he had always done. There may have been times he was foolish, but he always prevailed in his battles, and he was always righteous in his motivations.

He was almost always righteous in his motivations… Not that he couldn't recall fighting for ego. It'd been so long since he lost a battle. Even a tactical withdrawal seemed like an insult. For a moment, his motivation hadn't been stopping Remiel or keeping the Holy Guard from getting that card… it had been pride.

His eyes shifted the Empress, sitting rigidly on her seat on the bridge. He realized how she must've felt. Quietly, he made his way to the exit. "Don't second guess yourself, you're right," he assured her.

She turned her head and stared at him for a moment, before giving a slight nod. The brunette strode out of the bridge.

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The silence had bothered him once, but now he was grateful for it. It was the silence that always followed a blackguard. It was the silence of fear, as much of a cloak around him as the black cape on his shoulders was. The yellow insignia emblazoned on his chest kept the other passengers of the train silent. No one spoke loosely around one of Azrael's officers.

So Raguel fell to contemplating. Not that there was much else to do. He could never sleep on trains, although some found the hum of the engine soporific. The black form of his scabbard lay on the seat next to him.

"Bloodshed…" he muttered to himself. Raguel had killed hundreds in the interests of the Creator. Azrael's missions frequently meant rooting out blasphemers and heretics, and Raguel was more than proficient at it. But when had killing become so integral to his life? He'd always seen killing as the church's last resort, to be done only when redemption was no longer an option.

Serbane, the former head of the blackguard, had once told him that Azrael preferred killing to other methods. But Serbane was an evil man, even among the largely corrupt body of the blackguard. Or, he had been…

"Did you kill him too, Azrael?" he wondered under his breath. It wasn't beyond the prelate's abilities. Well, he would have answers to all of that soon. Remiel would have to convince him the killing was necessary. Otherwise, Raguel would turn his back on the church. The Creator was no murderer, whether or not Remiel saw it that way.

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The massive windows of his quarters showed nothing but air for as far as the eye could see, and nothing but water below. Seto simply stared, not taking in anything. There was no way they were going to get there in time to stop the summoning of the Forbidden One.

Not that that was what he was dwelling on. Instead, he was replaying battles in his mind. Why had he fought? Why had he begun this crusade? It had begun with simple curiosity about a girl that resembled a figure from his past… And he'd been attacked. After that… had it all been about pride? His knuckles turned white as he clutched them at his side. He wasn't just some bastard noble! Everything he'd done he'd done for his nation!

His nation… Seto's mind jerked back to the situation at hand.

"Shale… I wonder if you even know what's happening. This is right up your alley. Yours and Fallacian's…" he muttered.

His door opened quietly, and he saw Serenity in the reflection in the window. His knuckles whitened again. "What do you want?" he asked coldly.

"You aren't being fair," she murmured. He seemed furious already, and she almost lost her resolve. "There's no way I could have told you…"

"Speak up," he barked.

Serenity looked up, shocked by his abruptness, and then nodded. "It's just… if I had tried to tell you…"

"Do you have something to say?" he asked, turning on the girl. "Because if you do, then spit it out and stop wasting my time."

"It's not like," she pressed, before lowering her head again. She nearly wilted under the intensity of his glare. She understood why he was so angry… to him, it must have looked like treachery. It was unpleasant, having to apologize, but she knew how he must've felt. Still, at this point, even engaging in any kind of relationship with the AI seemed foolish. "It's not like you've been completely innocent of having secrets," she stated softly.

The prince shook his head and scowled. "Are you done yet? Come back when you aren't just going to simper like a wounded animal."

"Seto…"

"Prince, to you."

"Seto, shut up!" she shouted. "I'm trying to apologize, you bastard! I'm sorry I lied to you, but there was no way to tell you. In either case, you're no saint yourself. I know that you're keeping secrets from me too!"

"Like what?"

"Like you know why you can control dragons! And you're keeping it from me because you don't trust me, because you aren't willing to be honest with me! And you're keeping it from everyone else because you're scared of what they'll think!"

Seto stepped backward and glared at the girl. But Serenity wasn't finished.

"So before you shout at me about being honest, maybe you should make a list of all the things you won't tell me because you're too proud!" she yelled.

The brunette read the girls face, and then his eyes fell to the floor. He'd been wrong a lot lately. "I assume you talked to Pacias?"

"Naphar talked to Pacias," she replied. "She said the only way an untrained person could channel their soul card would be if they had some kind of–-"

"Extremely traumatic experience. Even if I hadn't researched the subject myself, I could tell you that much. So, you want the story?"

Serenity looked up at the boy, and her eyes became misty. "I just want you to talk to me," she said. To hell with the game, she loved that man.

"I was there," he replied cryptically.

"There?"

"When they came for Mokuba. I was there. The Darkfire Dragon wasn't for me. It was for him. It came in and took out the soldiers, and then it made a beeline for my brother. Something inside me snapped when it first hit him, and then I destroyed the dragon. That's when the abilities unlocked themselves. It wasn't enough. The assassins came for him, and I couldn't hold them off. I failed to protect my brother," he answered.

"There, you know. Are you satisfied?"

Serenity closed the distance between the two of them and brushed his cheek with the back of her hand. "You were fourteen, right? What chance did you have against two trained assassins?"

"I had the best training in the world. If I'd just worked harder at it, I would've had the skills I needed. I made sure that wouldn't happen again, that I was the best there was. I won't fail again. Not Sagaelen, or the Empress, or Damien, or you. I won't let anyone else die because I'm not strong enough."

He looked down at her. Now, she would tell him that he couldn't save everyone. He knew it was true, but he hated to be reminded of it. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled herself against him. "Thank you," she murmured.

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"When do we move?" Ijolite asked cautiously.

"Timing is key," Fallacian replied. "The longer we wait, the more soldiers we can amass from within the ranks of the army. However, it increases the chances that Remiel will find out what it is we're planning. By tomorrow morning, we will have enough soldiers in our fold to decisively win," he concluded. "Then, we move."

Lieutenant Ijolite strode out onto the balcony of Terra Fortress. The fortress overlooked Tergae, the military capital in the west of Kaiba. From the balcony, Cobalt was within sight. That was their objective.

"It kills me, waiting like this…" Ijolite admitted.

Fallacian nodded and made his way to the balcony. He hated the waiting too, not that he'd ever admit it. After all, he'd been a general in the Belya uprising, and he'd had to learn patience the hard way. It was only a day until he'd march into Cobalt at the head of a conquering army. Only a day, and then he would be warlord and king, two thirds of the triumvirate.

"Patience, lieutenant," he admonished. "I put you in this position because of the cool-headedness you've always shown. Are you going to make me reconsider?"

"Of course not, warlord," Ijolite replied. "I want to unseat Remiel as much as you. I've seen the harm his church can do."

Fallacian nodded. His short grey hair bristled in the dusk wind, carrying his thoughts off with it toward the east. Toward war.

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Raguel bowed low before the dais of the Deiprelate. Above him, Remiel sat on his usual chair, his yellow robes obscured by his lengthy silver hair. "It soothes me to see you well, Raguel. The shoes of your predecessor are rather large, but you have been doing an excellent job filling them."

"Thank you, Excellency. I've come because… I've been rather thrown by news that has reached my ears," he stated.

"Speak, then. I would like nothing more than to assuage your fears," Remiel replied.

"It's just…" Raguel stammered. It was unbelievable how much impertinence he was about to show in front of the Deiprelate. "Excellency… I… I know that you're planning to summon the Forbidden One!"

Remiel rose slowly, and smiled underneath his veil of hair. "That is correct. Though certainly, you can understand why I was not forthcoming with this information. The people… would not understand. Surely you do, my child."

"No…" Raguel stammered. "I don't understand at all!"

The Deiprelate gave a low chuckle and then descended to where Raguel knelt. With a slight tap on the shoulder, he signaled for the blackguard to rise. Raguel complied wordlessly, following the Deiprelate as he entered a room adjacent.

The pair entered, and Raguel realized they were in the Hall of Memory. The hall was painted along the walls and ceiling with murals of Kaiba's history, dating back eight hundred years.

"Why have we come here?" Remiel asked him.

"I don't know," Raguel replied.

"Don't you?" Remiel asked. He gestured vaguely to the walls, though his milky eyes took in none of it. "Look harder. What do you see?"

"Heroes of Kaiba," Raguel answered after a pause. "And events that formed Kaiba."

"I remember browsing this hall myself a century ago. Do you know what I saw?"

Raguel shook his head before realizing the foolishness of the motion. "No," he answered respectfully.

"War. Death. Destruction. Hatred. Misery. Tragedy. And this was what we chose to laud. I've been throughout our world, Raguel. Two and a half centuries ago I dreamed of purging all unhappiness from our world. Two centuries ago I dreamed of punishing those who dared to inflict suffering on others. A century ago I dreamed of easing the pain of my people. Now, I dream of ending it.

"To live is to suffer. The world is cruel, and so are humans. They carry no mercy for their kind, no respect for their kin. All they carry is selfish ambition and meaningless prejudices. They pretend not to know right from wrong when it suits them, and then condemn others for the very things they do.

"They lie. They steal. They are adulterous and lustful. They are hateful and wrathful. And all without a thought of redemption. Surely you've seen this," Raguel stated.

"Yes," Raguel replied as his eyes fell to the floor.

"And what is your hope?"

Raguel looked up at the Deiprelate. His eyes glinted with desperation, for he already feared the Deiprelate's choice was correct. "That they may be redeemed through the actions of those who are enlightened!" he asserted.

He expected the Deiprelate to be angry. Instead, he smiled broadly. "I once hoped the same thing. But I've since realized something. Do you want to know what that is?"

"Yes."

"There is no one who is enlightened. I am the voice of the Creator, and still I only hear his whispers. But he tells me the same thing I tell you now: mankind must perish. Only then can there be peace. Humans simply aren't capable of it."

"So you're going to wipe them out!"

"With the tool of the Creator," Remiel affirmed. "I'm going to summon the Forbidden One and wipe mankind off of the face of this planet. Then, peace can begin."

"And what about those of us who struggle to be righteous?"

"Are you innocent of any wrongdoing, you whose life consists of committing the sins that the holy dare not commit?"

Raguel deflated. "No," he answered coolly.

"Then accept what I give you: the opportunity to return to the Creator, from which souls originate and to which souls, when their long road ends, return."

The blackguard trembled, and Remiel's eyes fell contemptuously upon him. "Very well," he replied softly. He strode out of the palace.

Remiel walked back to his throne and sat upon it. "Redemption," he muttered. "That fool is still deluded into thinking the life of a human has value."

"But you know better," Azrael answered. The prelate had entered quietly from behind the dais and knelt beside his commander. "And so you progress with our plans."

"Don't doubt my resolve, Azrael," he replied. "I've seen too much not to proceed."

"As always, your wisdom never fails to impress," Azrael replied.

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"Empress, there are two lodeships up ahead of us. Both are battleships of the Kaiba fleet."

"This was to be expected. Power up the auxiliary cannons. We'll destroy them before they get close enough to fire," the Empress commanded.

"Empress," Naphar warned, "there's a third. The invisible one from before is here too."

"You're certain?"

"Yes."

The Empress bit her lip in frustration. "That complicates it. How can we shoot what we can't see?" She shook her head. "Never mind. We'll take out the ones we can see, and worry about the other one later. Get a firing solution on the right one. Quickly."

The lodeship dropped altitude and cruised to the right, and the targeted lodeship immediately began taking evasive action. Its propulsion systems were no match for the superior Venyoran model, however, and the ship easily locked in its prey. It splashed down into the water moments later, seared by the cannon of the _Amplexus_.

Perhaps spurred on by the defeat of its comrade, the second began moving more aggressively. It would not be as easy to lock in, as it began to shift altitudes and drift away from the weapons of the Empress' craft.

"Naphar, relative to our target, where is the invisible lodeship?" she asked.

"Fifty metres to your left," the Nocturne estimated.

"At the same altitude?"

"Approximately."

"Perfect," she turned to the gunner. "Stay to the right of the craft, and then begin to force it left. Try to keep it at the same altitude. We're going to pin it."

"Aye," the woman replied.

The ships moved slowly, drifting under their propulsion engines. Finally, the targeted ship could go no further without colliding with its comrade. The auxiliary cannon flared to life, and the ship from Kaiba did the only thing it could do, cutting its lodepanels to drop beneath the shot. But the fall was too slow, and the beam tore across the top of the craft, driving it the rest of the way into the sea.

"Now, before we lose the invisible one. Activate the main cannon!" the Empress called.

The lodepanels shifted back to brace for the impact of firing the main gun. Energy crackled through the walls of the craft as the main cannon charged, and every crewmember braced themselves.

"Fire."

With an air-tearing crack the main cannon fired along where the _Villicus_ had been moments before. However, the enemy had realized that the Venyorans had a method of detecting them, and had moved out of the path of the beam. For all the good it did them. The massive discharge of energy still tore the air around them, and the discharge wreaked havoc along the fuselage. Cloaking panels flew into the air; the metal turned soft from the heat of the blast. With several of its cloaking panels destroyed, the craft shifted into view.

"They're moving faster than I expected," the Empress commented. "How's our energy?"

"Poor," one of the crewmembers replied. "If we want to be able to hold back enough reserve energy to use the summoning core, we won't be able to fire again."

"We'll need that unsummon feature, and we can't ride everything on one shot. We're going to have to board them," the Empress declared.

"Umm, Naphar," Pacias called as she tugged on the Nocturne's arms. "We should get Serenity and the prince, right?"

Naphar nodded. "Damien, go get the two. And get ready. That's the flagship of Kaiba. I don't expect this to be an easy fight."

"We don't get easy fights," Damien replied.

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The two ships came along one another slowly, and the _Villicus _readied its cannons. The _Amplexus_ prepared to fire as well, but boarding lines instead of cannons. Along the port side of the Venyoran lodeship, the boarding team watched with bated breath. If the timing were wrong, they would be taking the brunt of the broadside.

The _Villicus _prepared to fire. In that instant, all power of the _Amplexus_ was shifted to the lodepanels, and the craft soared above the volley. Then, as quickly as it had risen, the energy was cut and the crafted dropped back. The lines fired and found a hold in the scarred side of Kaiba's flagship. The battle had begun in earnest.

The side panels of the _Amplexus_ dropped down, and Damien was the first out. His days as a rogue rushed back in a surge of exhilaration as he charged over atop the lines.

"Just like clothing lines back in Cobalt!" he yelled.

Seto shook his head as he slid across his own line, using the flat of the sword to slide along it. Quickly, he found a foothold on the wall and climbed to the nearest port.

Not far behind him, Naphar readied himself. He drew his rifle and adjusted it. It was made for battle in both close and long range, as the blade along the lower edge attested to, so he turned the edge away and slid along the line as Seto had before him.

Pacias lingered behind him.

"You don't have to fight," the Empress assured her.

"But… Naphar…" she protested softly.

"Then go."

Pacias set herself and nodded. She quickly followed behind. So, too, did the Venyoran soldiers charge across the lines. Hatches blew open along the side of the craft, and in moments the entire port side of the _Villicus_ was enveloped in battle.

As the port above the renegade royal swung open, holy guardsmen rushed to plug the opening. The prince flew through over their head, and with one strong kick knocked a trio into the open air. More were upon him in an instant, but their attack routines were ever predictable. He darted right and knocked a row of weapons upward and then twirled back left to drive back the opposite flank. The next charge would come from his left, so he set himself to accept the attack. The guardsman darted to attack him, but his move was too obvious. Seto didn't even bother to parry. He allowed the strike to deflect off his armour and thrust his blade through the soldier's chin.

Darting ahead, he passed through the flank and slashed another two soldiers, dropping them. The next line was unprepared, and his arcing blade dispatched three before the troops he had left in his wake wheeled on their foe. By then he was above them. He leapt over the line to their now exposed backs and drove his shoulder into them. They stumbled forward, and his blade took another pair. The next charge came from behind. Not that it mattered.

Above, Damien skittered over the roof of the lodeship. _"You're the most mobile, Damien,"_ the Empress had told him,_ "you must get to the engine room and disable them."_ He slid down along the side of the craft to where another port was located. With a few swift motions he brought it open and slid inside. The entire starboard side of the craft was nearly abandoned. After all, the battle was along the port side. It made infiltrating the craft easy.

Pacias entered behind Naphar, and the entrance was nearly clear already. The Venyoran soldiers were used to doing battle with Nocturnes, and so they had readily followed the dark-haired warrior's charge. The clamour of battle nearly deafened Naphar's acute senses, but the true sight of his sect didn't fail. Even firing grapeshot shells, each volley struck only foes. He was aware of the girl as soon as she entered. Only a year younger than he, the timid blonde's head barely reached his shoulder.

"You should have stayed back," he grunted as he loaded the rifle.

Pacias simply trembled and drew closer to her comrade. A trio of soldiers rushed Naphar, and he turned the weapon quickly. Its bladed edge knocked aside two of the spears, and he sidestepped the third. Pacias drew back behind him.

Naphar drove back the weapons of the pair in an exertion of force and wheeled on the third. His rifle fired and the soldier fell like clockwork. The Nocturne did not miss. When the remaining pair charged him he quickly retreated, parrying their lunges with his rifle while biding his time for an opportunity to reload. But the guards weren't foolish, and it was obvious they had attacked with a plan; they were pushing him back to the open door. Worse, Pacias was still behind him. He felt her tug his cape, and he acknowledged it with a grunt.

Again the two spears darted inside his defences, and he spun the rifle in a quick circle to knock them away. One grazed his arm, but the wound was only superficial. Abruptly, Naphar dropped to a knee. His aggressors met with a sudden blast of ice shards, courtesy of the spirit sorceress.

Seto wiped the sweat off of his forehead and surveyed the room. Only three of the Venyoran soldiers remained, but with his aid they'd wiped out almost thirty holy guardsmen. The soldiers rushed ahead and began to work at forcing open the door out of the chamber. Seto flinched. In a quick motion, he dropped to the ground and covered his head as the door burst into shards and scattered, killing the three Venyorans instantly. The prince regained his feet in an instant and recognized the man in the doorway just as quickly. It was Nakir, commander of Remiel's Holy Guard. It was pathetic; even the commander of the Holy Guard was muted and castrated.

The man's short black beard curled upward, rising to the same level as his clipped black hair. His uniform was immaculately white, as though he hoped to display his piety to anyone he encountered. In his left hand he held a rapier, and in his right a broadsword. It immediately struck the prince as odd; he had chosen weapons that were readily unbalanced.

"Nakir, right? So, you're the one responsible for that town in Venyore?"

The soldier nodded.

"I forgot. You're hands are full. That's a gag, for you. Not that that matters," he concluded. "I have no intention of talking!"

The sound of feet pounding echoed in the chamber as the warrior of Kaiba rushed forward. His blade slashed aggressively, and his foe quickly parried the attacks, though they forced him backward. It took only an instant for Seto to realize that his enemy was only using his left hand. His right arm, he quickly noticed, was only doing one thing: tensing. The parry was automatic.

Seto's sword came up immediately, and his free hand braced the back of it. In a massive release of tension, Nakir's broadsword snapped forward, and Seto took the brunt of the hit. His feet found no hold on the terrain. Instead, the prince flew backward under the force of the blow. His momentum barely slowed, and he realized quickly that he was going through the wall. He stopped fighting his momentum.

The prince's body tore through the fuselage of the _Villicus_ and continued. Seto used the momentum to spin in the air, bringing his feet backward in time to collide with the _Amplexus_. Beneath him, it was a lengthy fall to the sea. But it was an easy jump back to the flagship of Kaiba, especially with the momentum of that sword strike to spring off of. He kicked forward and nearly effortlessly propelled himself to the top of the _Villicus_.

Even as he did, the momentum finally brought him to his knees and he gathered the air in his lungs. It was obvious why Nakir had been promoted to commander of the Holy Guard; his physical strength was amazing! In that moment, instinct saved Seto for the second time that battle. He rolled forward, driven by the sound of moving steel. Nakir's broadsword punched through the fuselage where he had been resting a moment earlier, rending a massive hole in the roof of the craft. Nakir leapt lightly through and turned again on the prince.

"You're strong," the prince admitted. "But you're still only second rate."

Nakir smirked back at him, but the experienced warrior would not be provoked.

The next collision sent a shower of sparks into the air. Seto slashed aggressively, and Nakir parried. Both hands of the soldier worked hard to keep his enemy at bay, but finally he stopped the prince's charge and held his ground. His feet worked forward suddenly, kicking at Seto's knees as he slashed. Retreating quickly, Seto avoided the attacks, but he found he was running out of room. Worse, Nakir had withdrawn the broadsword from the fray again. Doubtless, he was preparing another strike. This time, with his back to nothing but sea, there would be no returning from the impact.

The rapier was quick enough to stop even the prince's attack, but Seto was used to dealing with such weapons. It was fast, but it lacked the strength to hold his blade at bay. Working the edges of Nakir's defences with forceful slashes from his far right and left, Seto's sword scored minor hits on both his arms. Without the broadsword to stop the attacks, Nakir's blades couldn't match the royal's.

Steel met steel again as Nakir's rapier was parried by the royal blade of Kaiba. Seto hooked the spur of his blade around the rapier, but the thin blade quickly withdrew and then shot forward again. It was deflected downward, but the attack was little more than a distraction. Nakir's deadly broadsword fired straight for Seto's heart. The prince kicked back out of range… and right off of the _Villicus_.

A/N: So, I'm thinking about taking a _lengthy _break to think long and hard about where this story is going and—sorry. Just kidding. In any case, please let me know what you thought, and if you thought anything needed improvement. Thanks!


	28. Duelling Dragons

A/N: It's hard to place how I feel about this chapter. You see, it was actually only supposed to be the first quarter of this chapter, but somehow that didn't end up happening. However, I am very pleased with the actual product. It's nothing if not entertaining. Also, unfortunately, the site when down shortly after I posted last chapter. I hope no one was inconvenienced. Thanks to everyone who reviewed anyway.

**Disclaimer**: Kazuki Takahashi owns Yu-Gi-Oh! I'm just renting. And by renting, I mean using without permission.

**Chapter Twenty-Eight: Duelling Dragons**

The crew of the _Villicus_ hammered cannonballs into the guns as they prepared for the next volley. Everyone knew the danger of firing a full broadside from that range, but Nakir had explicitly given the order before he left for the fray. Moreover, the commander's orders were never disobeyed.

Damien slipped past the room unnoticed. He'd avoided soldiers in the streets of Cobalt; he could do the same in the hull of a lodeship. Quietly, he made his way to where he'd been told the engine room likely was.

He slipped through the now empty soldier's quarters. His footfalls were nearly silent, and his thief's instincts flared up. Voices echoed from down the hall. Damien stole into one of the chambers along the side of the passageway and he waited. But the voices weren't moving. That meant that they were stationed somewhere.

In a few quick strides he crossed the hallway and peered into the room ahead. Behind it was his target, but there had to be a dozen holy guardsmen in the room between. Damien slowly slid his rapier out of its scabbard. A dozen soldiers would normally be beyond his ability. But then, he had the jump on them this time.

When he stepped out of the hall, he already had his target. He lunged out in a surge of energy and drove his blade into the heart of the first foe, drawing it out even as he spun on his next opponent. The foe was fast, and had already brought his weapon to bear, but Damien ducked beneath the high sweep and thrust his blade into the soldier's chest. A moment later he skipped back and retreated into the hallway. The bottleneck meant no more than two could get at him at a time.

He could handle two.

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Nakir smirked triumphantly and sheathed his blades. It was almost disappointing that the prowess of Kaiba's last remaining blood royal turned out to be nothing but a myth. He turned to return to the inside of the craft, but paused momentarily as he felt a rush of energy below himself. His smirk grew. One of his commands had just reached fruition; either the summoning core was finally being activated, or the broadside was about to be fired.

Suddenly, he felt a rush of air from behind him. He spun to face the Dragon Prince, rising above the _Villicus_ on the back of a Blue-Eyes White Dragon. Nakir smirked again and drew his swords. It seemed the prince still had some fight left in him. The air around him crackled with energy, and dozens of other duel monsters began to materialize.

It meant the summoning core was active, they both realized. "Dive, Mokuba," Seto urged, spurred by the realization that in a moment, the Empress would fire an unsummoning pulse from their own summoning core.

It came like clockwork, but its predictability meant that Seto could use it to his advantage. He drew his blade as he fell, and Nakir had to cross both blades to stop the strike. Even still, his feet indented into the metal fuselage of the craft. Seto backed off from the lock and readied himself. It was likely Nakir would use the same tactics, saving his broadsword for short, viciously powerful strikes. It was effective, but predictable.

Predictability was the enemy. Predictability meant death.

Seto moved forward quickly, slashing high across the chest. The attack was easily deflected, as was the slash that followed. Focussing on the left side, where Nakir held the rapier, he attacked with fast, targeted slashes. He even scored a few nicks on his arm, but that wasn't his objective. Nakir made his move.

It was risky, but the prince waited until the exact moment the soldier lunged. Then, he dodged left, dropping to a knee to fully avoid the swing. Nakir was off balance, his right arm forward for the lunge and his left still back from the last parry. The tip of the royal blade of Kaiba slid through air, flesh, skull, and then air again.

Nakir seemed horrified, even as his body slumped. With a jerk, Seto freed his weapon and strode back to the craft. Suddenly, the entire craft rocked with such force it sent the body of the commander into the air, and then into the surf. Quickly, Seto tried to ascertain the cause of the shock.

"A broadside?" he stated in shock as he saw the shredded side of the _Amplexus_. It was a gutsy move. Both ships wobbled under the damage, and, had they not been tethered together, they might have followed Nakir to the bottom of the sea.

The prince quickly re-entered the _Villicus_ and began working his way along the side of the craft. Those cannons had quickly become a threat that had to be dealt with.

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The Empress was on her feet and livid. "Why was I not informed that they were preparing to fire? Are we just sitting here now, or are we actually planning on fighting this battle?"

"Sorry, Empress," one of the crewmembers called. "We didn't even consider the idea of them firing from this range. As you can clearly see, they've crippled themselves as well."

"I can see," the Empress seethed, "because there is now a gaping whole in the side of this cabin from a cannonball that almost killed me. Can we maintain altitude?"

"For now, yes, but before we disconnect, pressure will need to be diverted from the second engine to--"

"That's a 'no,'" the Empress clarified. "Begin power diversion."

The crewmember gave the Empress an apologetic look from her destroyed console. On the bridge, her section had taken the worst of the attack.

The Empress sighed heavily. "Who can we get down there?"

From the corner, Serenity surveyed the room. Already, she knew that the countess was occupied with the wounded below, and it was obvious that the crew had other things on their mind at the moment. "I'll go," she offered. "I'll go!" she repeated more loudly, realizing she'd been silenced by the din of battle.

"Honourable sentiment. Do you know how to divert engine pressure from a Tenshi class lodeship's secondary engine to its auxiliary outlets, and then route the power from there to the lodepanels?" the Empress asked dismissively.

"I can figure it out," she replied.

"You can figure it out?" the silver-haired Venyoran scoffed. "Fine. Go ahead and get down to the engine room on the lower deck. Someone else should be down there in a few moments to clean up your mess."

Serenity's hands trembled with frustration at the way the Empress had dismissed her, but she didn't have any time to waste on a war of words. She quickly moved to the passage and sprinted down to the stairwell. It took her a few moments to descend to the lower deck; even as she reached the lower landing she rushed through the door, shoulder first.

She nearly fell through the damaged floor as she charged into the second engine room. It had taken some of the worst of the broadside, and the floor was now nothing but a few supports. The redhead shimmied out onto the support nearest the door and worked her way along the wall to where the engine clung to the craft not far down. It took her longer than she'd have liked to make her way along the wall. Across the way, the cannons of the _Villicus_ stared hungrily at her, awaiting their next volley.

As her feet crossed, Serenity stumbled along the support. Her hands flew out autonomously and grasped a crank on the target engine, releasing a blast of dirty steam into her face. The girl cemented her tenuous grip and pulled herself to the giant steam-powered monstrosity, and then settled herself against the wall. Then, she began a thorough inspection of the beast. Tristan had taught her a few things about engines in the time they'd spent together, so, logically, she expected to be able to analyze at least what most of the contraption did.

Tristan had not taught her steam engines.

Serenity let out a groan of protest, and then finally noticed the stickers plastered along the side of the machine. Most of them were too covered with grime to be legible, but she quickly started rubbing them clean and inspecting the instructions. Really, they were little other than labels, but she managed to devise which contraption controlled the pressure control.

"All right, so this does the pressure… I need to divert it from this engine to the auxiliary outlets…" she sighed. "What are auxiliary outlets?"

She examined the lever in question, but the labels had since peeled off. "Might as well try something, right?" she offered aloud, and gripped the lever in her hands. It seemed to have four setting, and was locked into the highest of them. Even barely holding the lever, Serenity was nearly standing on her toes. She began to pull down on the lever, but it wouldn't budge. Eventually, she found herself pulling so hard that she had lifted herself off of the support she'd been standing on. It supported the petite girl… for a moment.

Then it gave way, dropping the girl suddenly back down. Her feet couldn't find the support in time, and then she was hanging out the bottom of the _Amplexus_, hanging only by the lever. Worse, the pipes that ran from the engine were suddenly filled as engine pressure shifted, and oil began to mist and sputter out of cracks along their surface. Serenity felt the lubricant slipping between her fingers and the shaft of the lever, and she knew she couldn't hold on for long. Hastily, she scrambled back onto the support and wrapped her arms around it.

After a few moments spared to regain her nerves, Serenity lifted herself to her feet. It was only then that she noticed that across the gap between the two craft, a pair of holy guardsmen were preparing the cannon again, this time specifically targeting her. Of course, it made sense she hadn't heard them. Between the sounds of battle and the silence of their hand motions, there was no way she could have detected their arrival.

Not that it mattered now. On the narrow support, there was no way she could avoid the shot. Suddenly, the holy guardsmen looked up from their work. In unison, they diverted their eyes to their left. Serenity understood why a moment later, as the heir to the throne of Kaiba appeared in the room, running is a dead heat. One managed to level a spear at him, but the prince simply stepped down on his spear and leapt the soldier. Then, in one fluid motion, he slashed out the chest of the other, and the soldier dropped to the ground. The first spun on him again. The prince was waiting for him. He knocked his spear aside and grabbed the warrior by the collar, effortlessly lobbing him out the scarred side of the craft. A splash issued from the water a moment later.

"Thank you!" Serenity called across the gap.

The prince simply nodded and re-entered the fray.

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The round slid home into the chamber of Naphar's rifle, and he drove his shoulder through the door and into the next room. This was the same ship that they had encountered in Venyore, and from what he knew, it had been the same ship that Mako and Yugi had escaped from. Obviously, they had to have had Yugi in order to make a copy of him. That meant that, possibly, he was still on board. Naphar had never met the boy, but he'd realized how important he was to Serenity. So, he'd decided to track him down.

Pacias followed closely behind him, sometimes holding on to the end of his cape and sometimes simply jogging to keep up with Naphar's much longer strides. Finally, they rounded a corner and entered what seemed to be the brig. It seemed that they were expected.

The room they entered was a fairly large, empty room, most likely used for interrogations in front of the ship's prison. Several thick iron doors stood along the far wall. Against one, the form of a blackguard leaned. He was wrapped neatly in his black cloak and simply offered them a grin before standing.

"Looking for someone?" he asked.

"Yes," Naphar replied.

"He isn't here. We dropped him off back at Sandalphon, so he can prepare for the festivities. Now that we have the Forbidden One, we can wipe out those blasphemous royals and finally set things straight in this world," the blackguard said.

"It is written, 'He who hands a man a sword cannot protest when he is cut,'" Naphar replied.

"What's that supposed to mean? Quoting some ancient scriptures at me? Am I supposed to care?"

Naphar sighed. "I suppose not. Ever the ignorant--"

He was cut off as the blackguard charged at him, a flail appearing in his hands as he did. Nahpar gently pushed Pacias back and bent his knees, springing to his right as the blackguard came down on him. His flail ricocheted harmlessly off the floor, and the warrior turned again on the Nocturne.

"So you can see?"

"Better than you, I'd imagine."

"Neat trick."

Naphar levelled his rifle at the blackguard. "It isn't a 'trick.'"

The blackguard shrugged. "Whatever," he grunted. He began to swing his flail, clutched tightly in his right hand as he sidestepped around the Nocturne. Naphar kept his rifle aimed at the soldier, waiting for the charge.

The blackguard shifted his weight back, and Naphar fired. Midway into the air, the round met the swinging steel ball of the flail and exploded into a flash. The blackguard grabbed his eyes and screamed. In that brief instant Naphar darted past him, the edged blade of his rifle slashing at the back of his foes legs even as he began to reload. His enemy staggered forward and stumbled to his knees, and the Venyoran cocked the rifle and pressed it against the back of his enemy's head.

"Better than you," Naphar repeated.

"Don't," the blackguard muttered.

Naphar eased the pressure with which he'd aimed the rifle, intrigued by the defeated tone in the blackguard's voice. "Hn?" he grunted

"Don't… hesitate!" the blackguard yelled, and his flail cruised backward, swatting the gun away and nearly decapitating the blackguard. An instant later he had wheeled and regained his feet. His weighty weapon cruised through the air, narrowly missing as Naphar desperately backed away and dodged the attacks. His back hit the wall, and he raised the rifle to block an overhead swing. The flail's chain wrapped around the rifle, and with one strong jerk, the blackguard tore it from the Nocturne's hands.

"When the battle is over, kill your foe," the blackguard admonished, and began swinging his flail at his side. "First rule of combat, idiot."

The blackguard swung the flail down hard and fast, and Naphar blocked with his left arm. He could feel the bone shatter, and he cried out in pain. But there was no time for self-pity. Even as he screamed, he drove his right shoulder into the blackguard's leg and rolled past him. His enemy spun on him, and then abruptly stopped.

"Understood," Naphar said coldly.

As he pulled his hand from his chest, the blackguard knew that the bullet wound was fatal. The Nocturne had recovered his rifle exactly where it had fallen, and the blackguard was defeated. He collapsed to the ground. "That's fair," he muttered.

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The dust in the air stuck to the oil and grime on Serenity's skin, and it felt disgusting. But there was no doubt that this was the room she'd redirected pressure to, so, if she was fortunate, that probably meant it was the room that held the auxiliary outlets. A moment later, the now dust-free labels on the half-dozen silver tube coils confirmed her suspicions.

"Alright, so these are them. Now, how do I divert the power to the lodepanels?" she wondered aloud. She glanced around the room. "Is there a manual or something?"

In the corner, she located a dusty book hanging on a chain from the wall. She quickly inspected its pages. It took only a moment to find the pertinent passages. "_Power output can be controlled by deactivating superfluous input nozzles and routing flow towards the terminal outlet associated with the desired function. _What does that even mean?" she moaned. The page continued, _"The first outlet cannot be the terminal outlet. In reverse clockwise order, the second outlet controls life support, the third controls weaponry, the fourth controls lodepanels, the fifth controls extraneous devices and the sixth controls landing functions. All tubing and nozzles can be reset to default positions by use of the switch opposite this manual._"

Serenity glanced across the room and found the switch in question, along with several pieces of equipment presumably used in the machine. "So, what's all this… a minigame? I don't have time for it. But… I guess I don't have any choice."

She crossed the room and flicked the switch, and the tubing ground along several axes reset to specific positions. Each axis seemed to move independently, and she realized that she could pivot them herself. Quickly, she set to work connecting them. "I probably don't have much time for this…" she reminded herself.

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The last holy guardsman fell to the ground, and Damien sheathed his blade. He strode through the room, stepping over bodies, and made his way into the engine room. It took only a few moments to fully open the pressure valves on the crafts three engines. Soon, the room was full of steam, and the craft lurched under the rapid loss of energy.

Damien strode out of the room. Halfway through the next, he turned back and re-tightened one of the valves to a quarter open. "Buy me some time," he muttered. He sprinted back through the tunnel and up the stairs. It would be only a few moments before the _Villicus_ began to drop into the surf.

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The tube twisted and then locked into position, routing pressure from the sixth outlet to the second. Serenity gave an audible sigh. "Two more," she muttered. She crossed the room, snatching another tube from the wall on her way over, and knelt down beside the next target. The door swung open a moment later, and Sagaelen stepped through.

"How's it coming, Serenity?" he called.

"Are you the help they said they'd send?" she called back impatiently.

Sagaelen smiled broadly. "That's me," he said cheerily.

Serenity lifted her head from her work. Across her face, a layer of oil, grime and dust clung, bound together by her own sweat. She glared at her companion. "Then get down here and help," she hissed.

The sage jumped, and then quickly joined Serenity. It took a few moments to link the rest of the outlets together, and then another few to deactivate the superfluous nozzles. Serenity stood up and wiped her forehead. "What now?" she asked.

"How should I know?" Sagaelen chirped.

"I thought they sent you down here because you knew how to do this!" Serenity groaned.

"Well, they gave me instructions, but we've _done_ everything they told me to do."

Serenity sighed audibly and leaned on the wall, clearly exhausted. "It should be okay, then, right?"

The sage nodded emphatically and flashed a reassuring smile. Serenity couldn't help but grin herself, despite the weight on her eyes.

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Cries filled the air as the Venyorans retreated back across their ropes. Their pursuit was anything but lethargic, as the crew of the _Villicus_ began to realize what had been done to their ship. Of course, they were held, or even routed, at each rope. The lodeship began to fall toward the sea. Naphar climbed up along the slanting rope, with Pacias hanging over his back. His left arm hung limply, but Pacias held the rope while he reached for each length, and together the two made the climb. They pulled themselves aboard the ship.

Damien was already waiting for them. He helped them up and escorted them back into the body of the craft, where the wounded from the battle lay on the floor. The Countess of Landstar worked furiously to mend each of them, and she was making progress. Naphar quickly looked over the mass.

"Has the prince returned?" he asked.

The rogue's stare answered his question, and he turned to look in the same direction. Sure enough, at the mouths of one of the ports into the _Villicus_, the prince stood swinging his blade.

"We need to cut the ropes soon," one of the crewmembers called.

"All our men our accounted for," another replied.

"One more over there," Damien called to the two men, leaning against the frame of the port opposite the prince. "Cut the rest."

The men nodded and began about the work, and the angle between the two craft became progressively steeper. A moment later, Serenity joined them at the door.

"Is he still over there?" she asked nervously.

"He's wrapping some things up," Damien replied.

Serenity frowned. "Idiot." She stepped into the open door and placed her hands on the outside of the frame. "Seto!" she yelled. "What are you waiting for?"

The prince glared over his shoulder, and edged himself onto the open door to stop himself from sliding into the slanted ship. His sword streaked across once, twice, and on the third time he slashed the rope. Sheathing his sword on the next pass, he leapt into the air and clutched onto the rope. The _Villicus_ continued to fall, and finally splashed into the ocean below.

"Took you long enough," Serenity scolded as the prince climbed back into the craft.

"I was enjoying myself," he replied.

"Why is it I have to drag you to a garden but you rush into a battlefield?"

"I'm not good at gardening."

"Jerk."

Seto smirked, and reached out to Serenity's cheek. With a quick motion, he wiped a smudge of oil off of her grime-coated face. "You had something there."

The girl slid her arm behind the brunette and leaned toward his shoulder, stopping to rub her face on his cape. With one arm, the prince pulled the girl closer to him. She'd nearly been taken from him in that battle, and if he hadn't happened to find the gun crew when he had, she'd have been killed. Thinking of that, the day's arguments were forgotten. The group returned to the bridge.

A clamour of activity met them as they re-entered the hub of the _Amplexus_' activity. The Empress of Venyore stood over her chair, nearly shouting orders at the crew.

"What are our options?" she barked.

"Since we've had to reroute lodepanel power through the auxiliary outlets, we can't manually activate the landing functions. The control panel for our landing functions is also shredded. We'll need three hours or so of downtime to make the necessary repairs," came the reply.

"Without landing functions, how do you suggest we do that?"

"We'd need a long, open tract of soft land."

"Keep heading straight," the prince called from the door. "Not far from here is the Cur Desert. You can land there."

The Empress turned and nodded a silent thanks to the prince. Moments later, the entire bridge was filled with shouting again.

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Above, the sky was dark and the stars twinkled faintly. It was still very early into the night, but the entire crew of the _Amplexus _was exhausted. Moreover, the orders had come down from the Empress that they were to complete repairs and return to Venyore before any crewmembers were to be given any rest.

Seto stood in the sand, already expecting the arrival of the group that was now rushing toward him. At their head, a blonde bandit in a dog hide charged, glaring at the prince.

"What's the deal with crashing this hunk of junk inta my lawn -->?" he barked.

The prince narrowed his eyes and wrapped his cape tighter around himself to fight off the desert night cold. "I just got back from vacation. I'll be staying the night."

"The hell you will!" Joseph barked. "You got no right to tell me--"

"She's here with me," Seto interrupted.

The bandit's eyes fell. "You can stay," he muttered.

"Thanks," the prince bit sarcastically.

He turned and walked back to the craft. There, Serenity, Sagaelen, the Countess of Landstar, Naphar, and Pacias awaited him. "We're heading north. There are some bandit caves there where we can spend the night."

"Naphar and Pacias will be returning with me," the Empress stated as she neared the group.

"Fine. They're your retainers, after all."

The Empress nodded. "I'd like to help you, but I think I can do that best from Venyore. There's not much we can do here."

"I plan on storming Sandalphon to get those cards back. I could use your help--"

"You know I won't do that. Sending an army at them wouldn't help; you know as well as I do that only an idiot would attack Sandalphon. But maybe the group of you can slip in. In either case, I can't help."

The prince agreed grudgingly.

"Be safe, prince," the Empress said softly.

"Same to you," he mouthed back.

Seto motioned to Serenity and Sagaelen to follow him. "Come on," he called. "We've got a doghouse to sleep in."

A/N: Right, so next chapter will probably flow pretty quickly, since it was supposed to be this chapter. Of course, no promises. In any case, expect it to be fun. Because this is the closest you're getting to Joey love in this story. In the meantime, the review button is in the corner. It's useful for the giving of thoughts, concrit, praise, complaints and sea bass. Have fun.


	29. The First Last Charge

A/N: The reason this took longer than expected is that I sort of ran out of momentum at one point. This chapter was meant to be part of last chapter, if you recall, and things simply got longer than they were supposed to. Nevertheless, after an excellent betaing job from Tawnykit, the finished product is ready. I hope you enjoy.

**Disclaimer**: Apparently 'dibs' does not legally render ownership, therefore I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!

**Chapter Twenty-Nine: The First Last Charge**

Through the hole in the side of the cave, Serenity watched the stars twinkle. They were bright here, unlike in the city back home. She could make out constellations, although she knew that they were constellations that didn't exist back home. For a moment, she almost felt nostalgic, but the heat emanating from beneath her eliminated that thought. She curled up closer to Seto's sleeping form. His armour lay at the side of the bed they'd been given, but other than that he was, like her, fully clothed. Even his cape hung limply beside him.

He was warm, and surprisingly soft for a hardened warrior. She'd seen him in the ferocity of battle. Now, he was docile. His arm was draped around her back, and she wondered how he had it in him to fight. Of course, tomorrow, he'd be a warrior again. It was probably the warrior in him that drew her, not the prince. When he was polite, he was cold, detached. When he roared with anger, he was passionate. It was the same passion he showed toward her, and there wasn't an ounce of malice in it. Tomorrow, they would end the entire conflict. She looked back out at the stars again.

She wished tomorrow would never come.

Tomorrow, she would go home to her cold apartment, to her meaningless job search, and this entire game would be forgotten. She would leave the prince behind. If tomorrow never came… she'd be happy. In fact, lying against the Dragon Prince, she tried to remember the last time she'd been so happy. It must have been back on the beach with Joey, back before anyone saw her as a load to be borne; back when they all saw her the way Seto saw her.

She closed her eyes and rested back down. A form darkened the doorway of her room for a brief second, and then it was gone down the hallway. Serenity ignored it. Moments passed, and she almost drifted asleep. Then, without warning, Seto quietly shifted out from under her, resting her back on the bed as not to disturb her rest. She almost told him she was awake, but she waited instead. She let a minute pass slowly by and then slid out of bed. Seto's sword and armour were gone. Slipping into the hall, she followed the path she guessed the prince must have taken.

The path took her to the doorway of the cave, and she leaned cautiously against the mouth. Ahead of her, standing on the sand in the starlight, Seto stood, locking blades with the bandit chief.

Joseph narrowed his eyes at the prince. "You haven't changed at all, ya know. You're still the same arrogant bastard."

"I'll take you seriously when you earn it," Seto replied. He slashed his blade across the lock and Joseph jumped back. But the bandit chief was used to fighting in the sand, and he let the sand slow his reversal. A moment later he charged forward, slashing in an aggressive flurry of attacks against the prince.

The prince swatted them aside almost effortlessly, barely retreating against the onslaught. "You're still careless," he observed. "What good are you to anyone if you throw your life away?"

"This is the last fight I got, blueblood," Joseph retorted. He suddenly pulled back from the attack, letting Seto's parry swish past, and then lunged again. The prince sidestepped it and rushed past the bandit, swatting him on the back of the head with the flat of his blade as he passed.

"You've improved, but you're still just an amateur."

Joseph charged again, stopping short of the mark and letting the shifting sand carry him the rest of the distance. His blade cut low, and Seto's blade arced down to swat it aside. But that had been the purpose of the attack. As he slid into Seto, Joseph drove his head forward, smashing his forehead into Seto's face. The prince staggered back, slightly blinded by the attack, and Joseph pursued relentlessly.

Seto managed to parry the first few slashes, but stunned as he was by the blow, even Joseph's sluggish attacks were hard to follow. The blur of motion shifted slowly into full images. The prince squinted against them. Retreating against Joseph's blade, Seto finally saw his opening. His blade moved quickly right and blocked Joseph's and then the prince swept out his enemy's legs. He moved forward as he did and drove his palm into Joseph's chest, sending him onto his back.

"Amateur," Seto spat. "Don't let your guard down because you think you can win. That's when you need to be most on guard."

"Whatever," Joseph replied, regaining his feet and dusting himself off.

"Whatever?"

"Yeah, whatever. It was a good fight, right? So I lost dis time. You're not goin' anywhere soon. So I'll get another chance. And den I'll win," Joseph explained. Serenity smiled slightly.

"Ridiculous. I thought this fight meant something to you."

"It does, a'right? You got no right bringin' her here."

"I didn't have a choice."

"Right, I buy that. The blueblood's got his back to the ropes."

"Watch your tongue," Seto warned, angling his sword at the bandit, "or you'll lose it. And then it'll be so much harder for you to clean all those hard to reach places."

"Why you-" Joseph grunted. He lunged forward at the prince. Seto parried easily with his blade and then twisted, pinning Joseph's sword between the spur and the weak of his blade. Then, with one motion, he twisted again and drove Joseph's blade back into his scabbard.

"Put it away."

Joseph stared hard at the prince and finally slid his blade the rest of the way home. "You're leavin' tomorrow, blueblood."

"Of course. Probably the safest way to avoid ticks anyway."

The bandit shook his head and spat. "Right, I forgot, you'd rather be sleepin' all alone in that empty castle o' yours. Or did you manage to hire some friends to fill it?"

"I have a few guard dogs if you want some company," Seto replied levelly.

Joseph shook his head, "You're a piece o' work, y'know," he muttered and headed back into the cave. He didn't even seem to notice Serenity standing in the mouth. A moment after he left, Serenity walked out over the cool sand to the prince.

"What was that all about?" she asked.

"Bad blood," he replied.

"Why?"

Seto just shook his head.

"Who were you talking about?"

The prince's eyes remained upward, and it didn't seem he was planning on answering. Serenity simply stood at his side, hoping for an answer but content to wait. "His sister," the prince answered after a moment.

Serenity quirked an eyebrow. "The Countess of Landstar?" she asked.

His gaze snapped back to her. "How did you know that?"

It wouldn't do to tell him that the Countess and the bandit were modelled after her and her brother. "Lucky guess," she answered.

Seto scoffed. "I believe that," he commented sarcastically. He began to walk out into the desert. Serenity simply stared after him. A few strides away, he turned to look at her. "Come on," he said.

The girl quickly caught up with him, and the two walked out into the desert. Seto's eyes remained upward, and Serenity suddenly remembered what he'd told her about the stars in that world. Each represented a person. "Who are you looking for?" she asked.

"You," he replied.

She smiled and wrapped her arm around his. "Thought so."

"It's strange though… I can't find you."

"You know everyone around your star?"

"Of course. There aren't very many left. Sagaelen, Fallacian, the Empress… Shale's is gone."

"Shale?"

"General Shale, the man who taught me how to fight. Apparently, he's been killed."

Serenity squeezed his arm. "I'm sorry…"

"Don't be," he replied. "By the end of tomorrow, the sky will likely be a good deal emptier. Whatever happened, Shale died without regrets. He died doing something of importance. I can't imagine him dying any other way."

"I guess… and that makes it better?"

"It does."

"Why?"

Seto paused in thought. "Death is inevitable. It should mean something."

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean it isn't sad."

"Fine," Seto grunted. "It is… sad."

The two walked in silence for a while, until Seto felt Serenity shivering against his arm. He brought her in and wrapped his cape around her, and she drew in close to him. They walked for a while longer.

"She was a friend of mine," he stated finally.

"Who?"

Seto grunted. "Forget it."

"The Countess?" Serenity pressed.

Staring into space, the prince slowly nodded. "I had already had a few run ins with her brother, but when I met her for some reason she persisted in trying to be my friend. I tolerated her, I suppose, because it bothered her brother. Eventually, I realized she genuinely fascinated me. Of course, her brother was convinced I was a fiend out to deflower his innocent sister. It's why he decided to stop me. In hindsight, I didn't discourage the notion. But I never thought he'd be so foolish. He broke into the palace and attacked me. We fought."

"I take it he lost?"

"Not exactly. Of all the times we've fought, that time he was at his best. I still outclassed him, but there were a few moments where, if he'd been smarter, he might've one. His sister came in while we fought and screamed for us to stop. We ignored her. She decided to stop us, and intervened. I couldn't stop my blade, and I injured her badly.

"The battle ended there. For a while, it looked like she would die. But Sagaelen devised a way wherein we fused her with a Mystical Elf. She remained largely the same person, except for a few minor details. The healing abilities, for one, were picked up that way. But more focally, she lost her identity and her memories. She even reacted violently when we tried to remind her. Joseph decided that the best thing for her was to be removed from Cobalt, and eventually she ended up in Landstar.

"That's where the bad blood comes from. He blames me, with good cause. I give him the opportunity to fight. He loses. It's a habit."

Serenity chuckled slightly.

"Aren't you going to ask?"

"What?"

"The obvious question."

"Am I a replacement for her?"

"Yeah, that question."

The two stood in silence. "Am I?"

"No. It may have been what interested me to begin with, but the rest is you."

She drew closer to his arm. "Good to know," she said quietly.

Serenity yawned, and Seto turned wordlessly and headed back toward the cave. She almost protested, but she felt another yawn rising and realized that even in the game she needed sleep. Eventually they made it back to the bandit stronghold, and Seto gently nudged her toward the door.

"Are you coming?" she asked.

"I can't sleep," he admitted. "I'll come in later."

She watched him for a moment, and then gave a quick nod and smile. "Okay," she chirped and headed back into the cave.

Seto walked out a short distance from the cave and drew his sword. Silently, he began to go over the attack routines Shale had taught him. Somehow, it seemed the most fitting memorial. It took nearly an hour to run the gamut of attacks, and by the time he finished he was quite winded. He sat down on the sand and wiped the sweat off of his forehead. "I missed when you came in. You're pretty good," Seto commented as another form stepped out from the shadows.

"Thanks," Damien replied and sat beside him. "Your style really is quite distinctive, y'know."

A grunt came in reply.

"Are you ready for tomorrow? I doubt you're planning on attacking Sandalphon lightly."

"There shouldn't be a battle until we get into the Holy Palace."

"True. But we only really have three combatants."

"When has that stopped us before?"

"It isn't the same, and you know it."

Seto nodded. "We don't have a choice."

"I know. Sucks, doesn't it?" Damien quipped.

"You've been to Sandalphon?"

"Haven't we all? It's practically law to attend a yearly mass in the Holy Palace. Haven't been in years myself, but then, I never did have any respect for the law. But I know the layout, yeah. We've been through the same rhetoric, remember?"

"Yeah," Seto said.

Damien leaned back and looked upward. "You gonna take back the throne?"

Seto sighed. "Yeah. Looks like my fight won't end even after this."

"I'll fight with you."

"Why?"

"Huh?"

"It's not your fight," Seto said.

"I guess. I'm here because this matters, because I knew that it matters. Yeah, I followed because my brother was involved, but I'm still here because I have to fight for this, right? I mean, if I don't, it… could be the friggin' end. But, all the same, fighting with someone… I mean, it means something, right? Anyway, when that fight comes, I'll be there," Damien explained.

Seto rose to his feet, pushing himself up off Damien's shoulder. "Thanks," he muttered.

Damien smirked. "No problem."

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A wind, sweeping across the plains of Kaiba, whisked down the open roof of the cave and into the opening where the fiends waited. The Tyrant looked irritably up at the hole and shook his head. "Tomorrow morning," he hissed quietly.

"Too long," Adramalech spat. "We should attack now."

"Yes!" Azazel agreed emphatically, flapping his fleshy wings. "Let us charge into battle."

The Tyrant turned toward them and silenced their complaints with a glare. "You want to charge into battle?" he asked.

"Yes!" the fiends clamoured in reply.

"And you want to see Remiel and the prelates killed, and the entire church, nay, all of Kaiba, in ruins?"

"Yes! Yes!"

"Then you will wait," the Tyrant hissed. "Or do you have such short memories? It was I that united us when we were nothing but warring beasts! It was I that arranged it so that we would be able to spill this blood. It is my vision, my power that makes us strong! Do you question me?"

The fiends murmured among themselves.

"If we attack now, there will be a quick uprising that will be crushed. If we wait, then the fire will spread. First, the plains of Kaiba will be engulfed in battle. Then Cobalt itself will be consumed. Our fire will spread to Sandalphon, and civil war will erupt across this fragile country. They will slaughter each other by the _thousands_," the Tyrant hissed rabidly, "and we will fight and kill with them. But first… we wait."

Murmurs passed through the assembled fiends, but slowly they all backed down. The Tyrant grinned avariciously and turned his eyes skyward again.

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With his arms folded neatly against his chest and his head slumped only slightly forward, Seto Kaiba may well have been wide-awake. As Mokuba knew, this wasn't the case. Kaiba had passed out after what had become something of a stressful day. At that very moment, Kaiba Corp.'s security was searching the area for Tristan Taylor. Mokuba wasn't sure he wanted them to find him. Whatever Tristan's reasons were, the younger Kaiba was sure that Tristan thought he was doing what was right. When Kaiba's men found him, though, the black-haired boy knew they wouldn't be so understanding.

Mokuba opened up a runtime window for the program and began to go over, for the fifth time that day, the processor log for the few seconds over which Prince Seto became a true AI. It was hard to pinpoint what exactly had happened to spur the computer into motion, and the problem had to be diagnosed before the program made its way out of testing.

Sneaking a peak at his brother, Mokuba couldn't help but feel a bit guilty. After all, Kaiba had planned on supervising the game through the private observation lab so that he could prepare the final tweaks. Now, his brother's perfectionism had to be put on hold because Mokuba had overlooked a potential problem he should have spotted when he'd been checking his brother's code the first time. Of course, Kaiba didn't blame Mokuba, but Mokuba did.

The teen leaned back and glanced over the code again. The problem, of course, was attachment. For whatever reason, Prince Seto had become attached to the girl, which in turn had led to the incident of his creation. The code worked too effectively, or at least, worked beyond the realm of its intended scope.

Lethargically, Mokuba poured himself a cup of coffee. He'd seen his brother pull all-nighters over things like this before. He could do the same thing, if it meant fixing his blunder. Somehow, Prince Seto had to be taken care of. Kaiba was working on that. But Mokuba meant to make sure no further problems arose.

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The Tyrant walked back into the empty space that the fiends had taken for the assembly and strode to the jut of rock in the centre of the chamber. Quietly, he rose to the top of it and grinned at the gathered monsters. "The marching orders are sent. It's a simple matter of time now," he declared.

He squatted on the stone and his purple eyes peered out over the assembly. "Quiet now. Can you hear the footfalls? One hundred soldiers march on Sandalphon."

Straining their ears, the fiends stood in complete silence. In the distance, echoing from above the cavern, they could hear the soft sound of footfalls in unison. Murmurs of excitement rose from the fiends. Soon, they had grown in to full out cheers of joy. The Tyrant silenced them with a wave of his hand. "Our waiting ends soon."

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The wind passed through the streets of Sandalphon and rose beneath Raphael, casting his cloak about. The prelate folded his arms quietly in front of his chest and looked out over the plain to the south, his eyes following the mass of soldiers. "Who are they, Raziel?"

Raziel frowned, "They are Fallacian's men. But since the loss of General Pyrite, my information from them has been unreliable at best. It seems odd that they should march against Sandalphon."

"How many holy guardsmen remain here?"

"Three hundred."

"Do we close off Sandalphon?"

"No," Raziel replied. "That's what he wishes. If we do that, he will be free to take Cobalt nearly uncontested."

"What, then?"

Raziel stroked his chin. "I do not know. War is Azrael's field."

"Charge them," Azrael called as he entered from the palace. "Meet them on the field and stop them outside the city."

"We'll lose a lot of soldiers," Raphael informed him.

"So what? What do their lives mean to us?"

Raphael paused. "Nothing. Send them out."

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With the caverns of the Cur Desert far behind them, the group listened instead to the soft churning of the train. Draped in the black cloak he'd left in Joseph's cave on their previous visit, Seto had managed to get aboard the train from Pinion. It seemed that more waiting was inevitable. Out in the hall of the train, Damien paced. Sagaelen stared blankly at a text, and the Countess murmured old poems to herself. Even Seto tapped his foot impatiently. Serenity simply sat quietly.

Finally, the prince rose and strode out of the booth. He bumped into Damien, who cursed and fell back into another cart, as he passed through the door of the cart. Serenity followed quietly after, pausing only to give Damien a hand off of a tourist's lap.

"Impatient?" she asked as she joined him on the back of the cart.

"I hate waiting," he admitted.

Serenity nodded. "So… this is it."

"It will be."

"Are you scared?"

"No."

Serenity smiled and leaned against his shoulder. "You're such a jerk."

Noiselessly, the folds of Seto's cloak enveloped her. "I should warn you, any of us could die in this battle."

"How is that any different from any other battle?"

"This isn't just any foe. The prelates are elite, and they won't give up without a fight."

"You'll beat them."

"And if they manage to summon the Forbidden One," Seto continued. "I doubt it's possible—"

"Seto," Serenity interjected, "we'll win. We're the good guys, remember?"

The prince scoffed. "Right. It won't be so simple."

Shifting slightly, the girl moved to be face to face with the cloaked prince. "But it will be. You're the best there is, remember?"

His eyes refused to meet hers. Gently, she pressed her lips against his chin. "Remember?"

Jerked forward by Seto's arms on her back, Serenity felt her mouth claimed by the warrior. She quietly pulled herself closer to him, and her face flushed with heat, in spite of the wind.

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Lieutenant Ijolite put his head down against the wind and called the column to a halt. The orders Warlord Fallacian had given him were to force the battle to go as long as possible, letting the fiends take the brunt of the assault to inflict maximum casualties. "Prepare the archers," he said barely over the wind, and the order quickly shifted through the men.

Out from between the colossal towers on either side of the entry to Sandalphon, the holy guardsmen began to march. Ijolite wiped the dust from his polished white armour, grateful that Fallacian had been correct in predicting their course of action.

Once the full opposing column was out, the soldiers began to murmur amongst themselves. The enemy outnumbered them three-to-one. They were now relying on demons.

"Steady! Hold formation!" Ijolite barked, although he felt the same tingle in his spine he was certain they did.

The eunuchs marched in unison, and Ijolite motioned the pikemen to the front of the formation. Once they drew close enough, the fiends would come to their aid, but not until then. Of course, trusting a group of devils seemed ridiculous.

"Hold," Ijolite warned again. "Archers at the ready."

Slowly, the enemy force began to split up into three columns. "They're going to flank us," Ijolite muttered. When the two side columns fell into place on either side of Ijolite's force, retreat would be impossible, and his plan of neutralizing losses would become equally impossible. "Archers, press their flanks, force them toward the centre.

Even as the first volley left the hewn bows of the archers, the centre column charged. "Strong on the front!" Ijolite yelled, and then his voice was drowned out by the sound of weapons clamouring and soldiers falling. He drew his sword and charged into the fray, slashing left and right at the eunuchs that had broken through.

Lieutenant Ijolite cast his eyes about the overwhelming foe, now flanking his force on either side. His life was now in the hands of demons.

A/N: Action, action, action, action, action, action, fluff. Enjoy it while it lasts. The climax is beginning, we've reached the start of the fifth act, and it'll be pretty action based from here on out. This chapter is the last bit of dedicated fluff you'll see for a while. I shall do my utmost to keep the romantic focus going in spite (or because) of the action to follow. Lemme know what you think, and if you see the opportunity, give me some tips of what to improve on. Please.


	30. Of Fiends and Deities

A/N: Things are moving a bit faster now, and I expect them to pick up. The season of excessive school work is upon is, so I also expect it to be nigh impossible to get the next chapter done soon. I have, therefore, attempted to place as many cliffhangers in this chapter as possible. Enjoy.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! I'll give you a moment to recover from the shock.

**Chapter Thirty: Of Fiends and Deities**

Even with the girl in his arms, Seto's eyes never left the north as the train pulled into the station. His focus dulled the world around him, and before he realized it they'd reached the next section in their trek, the northbound station. The guard at the entry shook his head.

"The train isn't running. There's a battle to the north."

"What battle?" Damien asked. "Outside Sandalphon?"

The guard nodded grimly and cast his eyes north. "If you'd believe it. Someone's attack them with a meagre force, but still, lives are being lost. Tragic, foolish nonsense."

"This is urgent," Serenity pleaded.

"Can't," the man answered simply.

As he pulled his eyes from the north, the prince turned toward the guard. Without a moment's warning he grabbed him and hefted him away from the door, and strode onto the platform behind him. The man began to call for help, but Damien pre-empted him, covering his mouth and then knocking him unconscious with the heel on his hand. Soon, the group were on the platform prepping the train.

"You know how to drive one of these?" Damien asked.

"No," Seto replied simply. He rose from the controls. "Countess, Sagaelen, this is where we part ways."

Sagaelen shook his head. "Don't be ridiculous! We're coming along for the ride, prince. Don't go thinking I'm useless."

"Or me," the Countess added with an emphatic nod. "I can help."

Stepping fully on to the train, Seto simply grunted his indifference. The collection piled into the train engine, and Damien quickly unhinged the rest of the train. After a few moments of tinkering, Seto pounded the controls forward and the engine began to move. They were off.

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Screams echoing off falling soldiers blurred Ijolite's senses as he vainly tried to arrange his men. Fallacian's chosen champion's efforts to marshal the men seemed hopeless in light of the chaos. The tactics of his foes placed no value on life, and the casualties on both sides of the fray attested to their efficacy. Ijolite slashed right and left at encroaching foes, though he was certain he had wounded few.

He swore loudly as another of his officers was slain, and he ordered another group to fill the expanding hole in his line. "Where is our support?" he cried to the men on the far side of the line.

"Nothing yet!" came the despairing cry back. The flanks encroached on him and he swore again. They'd betrayed him.

Even as the oath left his lips, he heard a rumbling. He turned his eyes east, and saw two forms moving toward him. The first was an Ogre of the Black Shadow, charging headlong. Above him flew a Ryu-Kishin. They were two forms he recognized immediately.

Adramelech spread his wings and the holding orbs that contained his comrades sprang to life. Azazel bowled his contained orbs along the ground and they did likewise. In the span of a moment, nearly a hundred fiends were unleashed from their magical cells, charging like a wave of teeth and sinew. The Holy Guard wasted no time being stunned. As one, the entire flank moved from the fray, their defence secured by the other sections of their soldiers, and met the new charge.

Like a dyke trying to hold back a tidal wave, the line inevitably shattered. Fiends of all sizes rushed through, some wheeling around to mop up the scattered soldiers and others rushing through to reinforce their momentary allies.

Ijolite stood stunned. He was relieved to see his reinforcements, but the assembly of monsters truly horrified him. Surrounded by gleefully killing demons, he wondered what the cost of their victory might be.

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Raguel watched as the line broke. Beside him, a eunuch signed again, asking him to reinforce the soldiers on the plain to the north. This time, the blackguard caved. "Take all but ninety-five of our soldiers and charge out to meet them. That should buy them some time until Sandalphon decides what else is to be done."

The holy guardsman was out of sight moments later, and the blackguard turned his gaze back to the north. He could make out the form of more than one airborne combatant and several giants in the fray. Since the church did not employ summoners, that meant that their foe had an advantage in their number.

He shook his head. Normally, he wouldn't have been so quick to dismiss his city's garrison. After all, it was unlikely that such a small force had any hope of succeeding against Sandalphon, and so it was almost certainly a decoy. But then, he knew what Remiel was planning, and so it was equally likely that they merely acted out of desperation.

Not that he could blame them. The idea left his stomach in knots. Soon, the entire city he now stood to defend would be eradicated. He had allowed this to pass. That burden was his to bear, though he wouldn't bear it long.

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"Azrael," Remiel called softly. The prelate turned and walked to the blind priest, bowing graciously before him. "How goes the battle?"

"Badly, my lord. My scouts tell me that Raguel has sent most of the garrison of Cobalt to reinforce our men, but even they will have great difficulty holding against this newest foe," Azrael informed him. "To think, they would use fiends…"

"Expect nothing but the most base actions from humans, Azrael. You know that. If no aid is sent, will they break the soldiers in time to cause problems for us?"

Azrael bit his lip. "Most likely."

Remiel smiled softly. "Then ride out and fight them, Azrael. Reinforce your men."

"Thank you, my lord," Azrael replied. "I will return before the preparations for the ceremony are complete."

"See that you do," the Deiprelate said softly as he turned and slid back into the castle. The black-haired prelate rushed down into the castle to prepare his mount. Lust for the battle surged in his veins, and he felt himself tingle with expectation.

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The train surged down the tracks, accelerated well beyond its limits. Though the breaks screeched against the metal of the wheels, they'd long since been worn down past usefulness. Behind, the battlefield was a mass of formless bodies. Ahead, the station nearest Sandalphon was becoming a very real future.

"Stop the damn thing already!" Damien yelled.

A swift kick silenced the controls, but it was clear that there was nothing any of them could do to stop the locomotive.

"Prince," Sagaelen called over the rushing wind, "I'm beginning to think you had the right idea wanting to leave me behind."

The prince turned and glared at him before shouldering his way past. He grabbed Serenity and her look-alike as he made his way past. "We're jumping ship. Get Sagaelen, Damien."

After a pause, the black-haired youth nodded and grabbed his companion. He waited patiently behind Seto, who intently watched the tracks. A split second later he was airborne, and the train left him behind. "Hold on!" Damien yelled and leapt into the air. He was used to falling safely, so he spun to reduce the impact from his speed. He landed hard nonetheless, and he and Sagaelen lay panting on the heated metal of the tracks. Ahead, a crash issued as the train surged off the track.

"Looks like we ain't taking the train home," Damien commented as he forced himself to his feet. Sagaelen pulled himself up too, groaning in pain as he did.

A few moments later, Serenity and the others caught up to the pair. He glanced at the wrecked train. For a moment, he seemed to be considering say something. Then, Seto turned crossly and started walking toward Sandalphon.

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The battle had turned in his favour, but Ijolite's troops still fought on two fronts. Northward, near Sandalphon, his soldiers did combat with the remnants of the original force of the Holy Guard. To the south, they did battle with a sudden wave of reinforcements from Cobalt. Though the original force had been decimated, so too had their foes taken great losses.

In the centre of the fray, Ijolite had found a banner from which to marshal his troops. The fiends, conversely, did as they pleased. Their tactics were haphazard at best, though the word of the Tyrant, who had joined the field, was always followed precisely.

The lieutenant waved the banner. "Those not on the lines, rally to me," he called. Desperately, he commanded, "Reinforce the breaks on the southern front. We need to open a path of retreat!"

For a moment, it seemed like a cloud covered the sky. Then it passed, and Ijolite waved his free soldiers to the southern front. There, in the midst of the fray of fiends, soldiers and eunuchs, a blast flared into being. Bodies flew into the air, some dead, some screaming. Then, Ijolite's eyes did move skyward. Above, a giant Red-Eyes Black Dragon hovered in the air.

"Archers!" he called, waving the banner to draw attention to himself. "Focus all fire on the dragon! All other targets are secondary!"

Arrows streaked into the air, most deflecting blindly off the beast and the others dealing little real damage to the monster. It buffeted its wings and his line was forced back under the force. It reared its head and his men ran for their shields. It dropped from the air and his line broke. The beast was slashing and clawing and snapping its jaws as it forced its way through his line, and Ijolite could do nothing but stare at it. But as quickly as the beast had appeared, it was gone. It didn't disappear, however. Instead, it was destroyed in a blast of energy. From head to toe, a single blast from the Tyrant's staff and the being was gone.

Rolling with the fall, it's rider quickly found his feet. His yellow robes shone of their own light, and his green eyes gleamed with an inner fire from behind his dark bangs. The Tyrant, now standing between Ijolite and the rider, grinned broadly.

"What an honour, Prelate Azrael," he hissed sarcastically.

"Tyrant of the fiends," Azrael replied coolly. "You dare to meet me on the battlefield?"

"I cow to no being."

Azrael narrowed his eyes and drew his sword in a flash. "I'll slaughter you, you monstrosity."

"Between the two of us," the Tyrant said, "which is the monstrosity?"

Azrael had had enough. He rushed forward suddenly, and the Tyrant blocked his blade with his staff. The first real battle had begun.

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For Raguel, there was no mistaking what he saw from the western wall of Cobalt. He lowered the spyglass from his eye and sighed, wiping the sweat from his forehead with the free hand. "Easily six hundred of them… and I'm left with ninety-five men." Fallacian's army had begun its march, and it seems Raguel's fears of the other force being a decoy were confirmed.

He flicked his fingers to signal for his second in command. Even as he did, he saw motion at the front of the enemy line. Fireballs began to form in the air and streaked toward the city without warning.

"Hinotama!" Raguel shouted as he dropped beneath the ramparts. The fireballs had too little range for the first volley. Instead of reaching the city, they harmlessly seared the walls. As Raguel rose, his second joined him on the wall.

"We're being besieged," Raguel commented.

The eunuch nodded. _We still have plenty of time to close the barrier wall_, he signed.

After a cursory glance back at the opposing force he shook his head. "No," he said. "Those fireballs will trap us in here. It may be a city, but it looks like that bastard Fallacian has no intention of being cautious about this. Damn him! Take a score of my men and start to evacuate the city. Close all gates but the far eastern gate. The rest of us will hold them for as long as humanly possible to assure that everyone gets away."

_Are you sure?_ his second signed. _We could hold out for some time if—_

"Of this, I'm certain," Raguel replied. "Hurry up."

He didn't pay any attention to when the eunuch left. In fact, he wasn't even thinking about the force in front of him or the battle to come. Ultimately, it was meaningless anyway. In less than an hour, he guessed, the entire world would begin to be enveloped in the cleansing flow of the Creator's will. Everything around him would be gone.

Raguel turned slowly and looked at the city. It was one of the few places he'd called home. He lowered his head to say goodbye, and found his reaction to the thought to be visceral. The blackguard wiped his mouth and shook his head. "All right," he muttered to himself, "I suppose that settles it."

Black cape billowing behind him, Raguel strode to the stairs to complete his most pressing task.

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Ijolite felt alone on the battlefield. On either side of him, fiends chased and slaughtered the last of the holy guard. Not that Azrael seemed to care. The prelate strode toward him across the field, his right hand clutching his blade and his left dragging the Tyrant. Azrael was wounded so badly it was a miracle he could move. Indeed, whole portions of flesh seemed to have been removed by the Tyrant's staff. The prelate hadn't flinched.

It was all the lieutenant could do to keep his hands from shaking. "You're the commander of this little troop," Azrael concluded.

He levelled his blade at Azrael and twitched, if only because he'd seen the prelate in battle and knew it wouldn't do any good. Azrael smiled broadly. "You'll forgive me," he sneered, "but I have no more free hands to drag hostages."

At some point, Azrael had dropped the body. He'd made a move, there had been a parry, and he'd moved again. At some point, Ijolite had lost his blade. All he noticed was the tip of Azrael's blade protruding from his chest, and he couldn't sort out how it had gotten there.

"A warrior who fights God does not expect to win," Azrael admonished. He added as an afterthought, "Though I'm impressed you stood to fight at all."

Ijolite slumped forward, and the battlefield blurred around him. He had lost.

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The gates of Sandalphon, if the two towers connected by a magical barrier could be called gates, were wide open. Seto winced as they stepped inside.

"It's beautiful," Serenity commented in spite of herself, awed by the gold and white of the pristine city.

"It should be," Damien said bitterly. "This is what your offerings pay for. Every time you donate money to the church so that they can make sure the poor are clothed, the starving fed, every time you drop a Moku so that morality or justice might be upheld, this is where it goes. And then it becomes the gold gilding or stained glass window of some church."

"Nice to look at, though," Sagaelen chimed in.

"We don't have time," Seto interjected. "Come on, we need to get to the Holy Palace."

Damien nodded. "I know my way around Sandalphon," he said quietly. "There's a back way to get to the palace that should let us avoid any unwanted problems."

The rogue led the group quickly through a series of back alleyways and passages. Behind their faces, the structures were made of simple brick, without any visible gilding. Nevertheless, Serenity found herself enamoured of the songs on the air within the city.

"What are they singing about?" she asked.

"The Creator," Sagaelen replied. "Or, at least, who they believe the Creator to be. Under the church of Kaiba, only the Creator is recognized as a true deity, although some archaic texts do make reference to a destructor and a ruler. Their worship of him is absolute."

Seto strode forward. "Thanks professor," he grunted. "There might be a Creator, but the being they worship doesn't exist outside of religious texts. It's nothing but idiotic superstition."

Sagaelen ran ahead of him and turned around, walking backward to fully regard the prince. "You mean after all this—"

"They're lies, Sagaelen, written by someone long dead who probably didn't believe them themselves. The actions of the church prove that much," Seto concluded.

Sagaelen's heel hit a snag, and he fell. Seto strode past him. Taking Damien's hand, Sagaelen clambered back to his feet and skipped to catch up to the prince. "There's more to life than what logic tells you," he tried to remind the prince.

"You've been reading too many romance novels, Sagaelen. Maybe you should leave your books once in a while and experience the world."

"_Me_ experience the world? Of the two of us, which one is it that spent over a week without leaving his complex?"

Seto simply glared at the sage. "We've both done that, as I recall."

Eyes widening, Sagaelen opened his mouth in protest. "When did I…"

Serenity giggled. It struck her how strange it was to see Seto Kaiba and Maximillian Pegasus bickering like old friends. Most notably, Seto struck her. He seemed so different from the wealthy CEO she knew, and yet there were moments when they were undoubtedly the same. For a moment, she pictured him bickering the same way with Mokuba, but somehow it was less endearing.

She took her prince's arm. "Come on, you two," she chided gently, "You'll give us away."

"Might as well let them play," Damien chimed in. "After all, this is likely the last calm we'll get before the storm."

The rouge skipped ahead and turned down an alleyway. The group paused and waited, until several seconds later he returned. "The gate's up ahead, assuming you want to go in the front way."

"There another way?" Seto asked.

The rogue exhaled through his teeth. "There's a way in along the side, but I don't think any of you could make it. No offence, of course, but I think I might be the only acrobat here."

"Then go that way, and try and find the cards first. As far as I know, they still don't have the summoning circle for him, so we might still have some time. The rest of us will go in the front." Seto said.

Following a curt nod, Damien darted off along the wall of the Holy Palace. Seto pulled his black cloak back down over his head and slid to near the end of the alleyway. "Time for a distraction," he muttered. "Anyone have any ideas?"

Sagaelen bit his lip. "If only we had a bottle of wine and some wire…"

The prince turned and quirked an eyebrow. "You have an idea?"

"No," Sagaelejn admitted. "But I always think better with a good glass of wine. And wire is good for all sorts of things…"

"I have an idea, prince," the Countess said.

"Hmm?"

"Well, I think I have an idea… If Serenity would be so kind as to summon a monster some visible distance from the gate, the guards would likely be diverted."

Seto nodded. "If there was something to draw their attention," he mused.

"I could scream," the Countess offered.

His gaze shifted from the Countess to Serenity, and the girl gave a nod. "All right, do it," he said. "But get down three buildings from here, and then rush back."

"Right," the Countess replied and raced off down the alley.

"Wish me luck?" Serenity said with a smile.

"Be careful," the Prince replied.

"Aww, how sweet, my young prince has finally fallen for a lovely girl," Sagaelen chirped as Serenity rushed off.

"Shut up, Sagaelen."

"It's good! Honest! I haven't seen you connect with anyone in ages!"

"Well, if everyone was like you that'd be excusable."

"Oh dear, you wound me," Sagaelen chuckled.

A scream came from the street ahead, and the two turned to see Kagemusha of the Blue Flame charge into the street. The guards moved immediately to investigate the disturbance. Seto pushed Sagaelen out into the street behind him. The sage pulled open the heavy door and darted in, leaving Seto in the alley. He waited. A moment later, Serenity and the Countess came charging back down the alley, and he rushed them in too. He followed a moment later, closing the door behind him.

The prince led, using memories of being in the palace to lead the group to the audience chamber, where he guessed their search might begin. Ahead were the bridges from the entry keep to the palace proper, and so he rushed ahead. As he did, he recognized the form on the bridge beyond doubt.

"There's something I have to take care of," he said without glancing at his companions. "Take the second bridge over."

Serenity tried to read his face, and then nodded and made her way down the hall. Seto walked out onto the bridge.

"Raphael."

"Dragon Prince."

A thin whistle cut the air as the prince drew his sword. "I should have expected to see you here."

Raphael strode across the width of the bridge. "I'm curious," he said, "as to just how much you know."

"I understand the extent to which the man I know is dead."

The red haired prelate nodded. "Good," he replied. "Then you understand that the two of us will inevitably fight."

"I could leave. I don't need to pass you to find the cards."

"We both know you won't do that."

Seto nodded and cast the black cloak of his shoulders, leaving him in his tarnished armour, masked by his billowing cape. "What's your motivation?"

"The same as Remiel's. I want to see humanity ended."

"Why?"

"I'm not here to give you your answers."

Blue eyes narrowed. "Then why don't we stop wasting time?"

Raphael simply smirked, and slowly slid his yellow robes of either shoulder. The clothing fell and hung over his belt, revealing his torso. Across his heart was a long white scar, thin, but undeniably fatal. "This," he said, "is my stigma. This is the proof of the price that was paid. I am a demigod, prince. You dare to do battle with me?"

"Demigod, demon, dragon… what's the difference? You can't beat me, Raphael, and you won't." Seto stepped forward and levelled his sword at the prelate. "I have to win."

Raphael produced a card from the folds of his cloak, and revealed it. The Kunai with Chain flashed into being, and the weapon formed in the hands of the prelate. "You'll find life is seldom so idealistic."

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Serenity raced across the bridge and into the palace proper, bursting through the door unceremoniously. She cast her head about, and then bolted down the next set of stairs. "Come on!" she called to the pair behind her.

Wiping his forehead, Sagaelen struggled to keep up. "I don't see what the rush is," he whined.

They reached the floor, an ornate affair decorated with an intricately tiled pattern beneath a solid gold ceiling, and the sage managed to beg a rest from the leading red-haired woman. Serenity glanced about impatiently. "So… where to turn?" she muttered to herself.

The Countess pointed to a door along the side of one of the staircases. "That looks like the entry to the prison," she said softly.

"Prison?" Serenity mused. "Yugi!"

The pair seemed surprised. "Yugi? The Deiprelate?"

Serenity shook her head. "Never mind. Keep going, I need to check that prison." If, like she imagined, Yugi was still in the game, it seemed likely that her enemies would be keeping him here. In any case, it would take her only a few moments to investigate.

"All right," Sagaelen replied. "But be careful."

A/N: Now wasn't that excited. So, please don't hesitate to leave me your thoughts. I'm grateful for any concrit I get, so don't hesitate on that count either. I appreciate every review I receive. Thanks muchly.


	31. Rising Maelstrom

A/N: This was a little while in coming. It has, however, been a difficult chapter to write. There are probably a few things that aren't quite clear in this chapter, but they should be clarified within the next few. Of course, I could say the same about most of the other loose ends I have kicking around. Thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter, and as always, special thanks to Tawnykit for betaing.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, but I assure you all characters are used without permission.

**Chapter Thirty-One: Rising Maelstrom**

Raguel raced down the stairs, his cape flying out behind him. Slowing abruptly as he reached the bottom, he turned and regarded his target.

"What do you want?" Starke asked sharply.

He was answered with the sound of Raguel drawing his weapon, and the blackguard strode to the edge of the cell. "Fallacian is attacking. What do you know of it?"

Starke gave a disinterested shrug and leaned back against the cold stone.

"Fine," Raguel grunted. Jerking his arm forward, he slashed the lock of the cell open. "Get going. I won't make you co-operate."

The mercenary stood and took a cautious step toward the door.

"Remiel is going to summon the Forbidden One. You said you wanted to stop that," Raguel explained. "If you still do, then go. I have a battle to fight here."

"I don't understand."

"You don't have to. Just go."

Apprehensively, Starke slinked out of the cell and over to the wall where his weapons hung. He armed himself, his eyes never leaving Raguel, and made his way to the stairs. "Did you finally grow a conscience?" he asked.

Without meeting his gaze, Raguel offered a low chuckle. "Conscience? No. Perhaps I simply opened my eyes."

Raguel slid the blade back into its scabbard and ascended the now vacant stairs. He stepped out into street and surveyed the preparations for the battle. A bottleneck was prepared along the west gate, and the remaining blackguard spellcaster's Miracle Dig magic card had provided a trench behind that. Raguel's forces were depleted, but he knew they'd fight to the death. He didn't doubt they'd have the opportunity.

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Seto barely managed to get his head beneath the swinging blade of Raphael's weapon. He had no real concept of how long they'd been fighting, but every attempt to get within the prelate's defences had been beaten. His blade snapped to the left in time to parry the streaking steel of the weapon and he rushed forward again, but Raphael easily jerked the chain back and the kunai streaked in front again, forcing Seto to parry and leap backward. He recoiled out of range of his enemy and began to catch his breath.

"You're tired," Raphael observed.

"Don't think I'm beaten."

"I don't," came the honest reply. "It's impressive enough that you've made it as far as you have. You've been fighting the whole way, haven't you Seto? And now you're tired. Even for you, the fighting's become enough. You don't want to hold that sword anymore. I don't blame you."

Seto stepped forward and readied the blade, but Raphael didn't even react to the threat. Instead, he continued idly spinning the chain and weapon at his side.

"You've proven your point. You'll fight for your morality, and for those you care about. But we never doubted that. Of course, you're unfit to rule, but you know that, too. You're human. Of course you're unfit."

"What are you saying?"

Raphael stepped forward slowly, still spinning the weapon at his side. "That this fight is meaningless. That all your fights have had no more meaning than what your hopes and fears gave them. That you've made your point, so you can go home now. The battle is over."

"Not until the threat of the Forbidden One is ended."

"The Forbidden One is nothing more than a symbol. It's the spirit of your battle that will determine what the outcome is."

Seto shook his head. "You're lying."

"Why would I do that?"

"Because," the prince answered, narrowing his eyes, "you're afraid."

He charged the prelate.

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Serenity pressed her back to the wall as she glanced into the prison proper. Though the palace had seemed largely deserted, a pair of guards remained within. That seemed like a clear message that someone was being held there still. She slid her hand cautiously to her deck box and withdrew the card the Empress had given her. "Celtic Guardian," she muttered, and it sprang into life.

The flash of light was more than enough to draw the attention of the guards, but by then the warrior had already formed. Serenity stepped out from behind the corner and pointed aggressively at the soldiers. They charged, but the green-capped elfin warrior intercepted them. His first slash decapitated one, and the other darted back and then lunged forward again, spear first. The Celtic Guardian parried the blade and expertly darted past the soldier, who by then had resumed a defensive stance.

They crossed weapons again; the holy guardsmen's spear deflected the attacks of the Celtic Guardian, but the elf's superior speed prevailed. With a quick jerk, the Guardian withdrew his blade and then lunged fiercely, piercing the chest of his foe. The bodies of the guardsmen dissolved.

Serenity stepped silently into the room and took a quick glance at the corridor adjoining the chamber. "Go check it out, okay?" she said.

The Guardian nodded, and moved into the hall. Alone, the redhead began to search the room for keys. The room had three doors, all of them made of thick steel, which obviously led into cells. The keys hung on the wall on the opposite side, and Serenity crossed the room and retrieved them. Then, she began to open the cells.

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As Sagaelen glanced at the bookshelves on either side of the library, it was all he could do to keep moving. The Countess could practically see the sage salivate, but if nothing else then the reminder of her nagging presence prevented him from losing focus. The two shuffled through the library; the large double doorway on the other side beckoned.

The Countess suddenly placed her hand firmly on Sagaelen's shoulder and pulled him behind a shelf. She moved quickly, and the taller sage stumbled to keep up. Gradually she came to a halt, and then crouched, shuffling some books about on one of the shelves.

"What _are_ you doing?" Sagaelen whispered.

She pressed a finger to her lips and finished manipulating the books, having opened a hole in the wall that provided a guarded perspective into the central corridor of the library. Sagaelen crouched and glanced through, and immediately understood why the Countess had seemed suddenly so stricken.

A billow of yellow fabric on the far side of the library evolved into the form of a black haired prelate. He walked purposefully, not sparing a glance to either side. Both Sagaelen and the Countess found themselves holding their breath as he passed. Though the prelate was slight in build, his presence was dominating. When he reached the set of double doors opposite he cast both open and strode through. Then they were alone in the library again.

"That must be where we're going," the Countess said quietly.

Sagaelen didn't reply; he was absorbed in a book.

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The next wave of fireballs came as expected. The clustered group of holy guard huddled in the streets as they pounded down around like a destructive rain. Raguel waited patiently, nodding his head with each pounding blow of the battering ram on the gate. Each moment that passed meant the evacuation of Cobalt came closer to completion. All he needed was time.

Across the street, pressed against the wall of a smithy, one of the blackguards caught his attention. "May I return fire, Commander?" he called.

Raguel glanced at the Sparks magic card in his hand and suppressed a scoff, but nodded nonetheless. The spray of sparks arced over the wall a moment later, but to little effect. They were locked in, and ill prepared.

It occurred to him, for a moment, to wonder if Starke had made his way out of the city yet. He felt a pang of guilt at letting the mercenary free, and for essentially ordering him to find a way to stop the Forbidden One, the chosen tool of the Creator. Still, he felt too attached to the world to cede that Remiel's plot was the will of the Creator.

A crack issued as the ram hit the gates again, and the blackguard knew that the battle proper would start again. It would be the second battle for Cobalt in a week. It was becoming abundantly obvious that a cataclysm, of some sort, was imminent.

"Creator guide us," he muttered to himself, "if we should take the wrong path now."

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The kunai ricocheted off of the stone before returning to Raphael's hand. Seto breathed heavily; his arms felt like lead and the sheen of sweat that coated him spoke of the exertion of the battle. If that hadn't been enough, his armour now had several fresh slashes in its surface.

Raphael too sought to catch his breath. Neither had made any headway, except to shatter the stone that composed the battlements of the bridge. The kunai swung in quick circles at the prelate's side, and he smiled at Seto.

"Why are we fighting, Seto?"

"So that I can stop you from summoning a monster of nearly infinite destructive power."

"That's not what we want."

"The hell it's not."

Raphael chuckled. "What we want is to be one again, and we've simply decided to hitch a ride on our brother."

"What?"

"It's true! Sure, putting an end to the human experiment is an added bonus, but that's not our objective."

"Your objective," Seto spat, "isn't my concern."

"Oh?" Raphael mocked. "Then what is? After all, everything you know is speculation."

"I know enough."

"You know next to nothing. You're fighting blind, old friend."

"You'll pardon me if I don't surrender."

"Would you be so eager to protect your people if you knew Fallacian had enlisted fiends in his ranks?"

Seto shook his head. "You're pathetic. You'll say whatever it takes to protect yourself."

"But it's true, old friend," Raphael replied. "There are so many other sins of this war that you know nothing about. You yourself learned what it felt like to be betrayed by a nation."

"At your hands!"

"And what is one voice in so large a crowd? Either the people are foolish, or they are malicious."

The prince clenched his hand on the handle of his blade, his knuckles turning white.

"It is the people like you, prince, who will survive this coming era. When the Forbidden One… no, when Oa and Ui are again whole, it is those with the will to fight and to live, like you, who will persist. You will prove whether the experiment was a failure or a success," Raphael sermonized. He could see the doubt begin to cloud the prince's vision, but his trembling hand clutching his blade belied his will to fight.

"There's one problem with that."

"Oh?"

"You're right. I'm strong. And that's why I have to protect them."

Raphael shook his head. "It's foolish to think you owe them anything."

"Not them, but everyone else that I failed to protect," Seto answered.

"You're resolved, then?" Raphael asked.

The prince nodded.

"So be it. I've run out of time with which to occupy you, anyway."

The kunai flashed forward again, but the prince could already sense the attack was half-hearted. He swatted the weapon aside and charged, and Raphael pulled the weapon back again. Darting left, Seto swatted the weapon away again, and leapt into the air to close the last of the distance between the two. Again, the weapon flashed in, but the prince kicked it aside. He landed behind the prelate, and his blade came down.

Raphael disappeared in a flash of light.

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With a quick burst of exertion Damien pulled himself through the window and onto the floor of the palace's far tower. It had taken him a fair amount of skulking around the complex to reach the tower, but he knew it placed him close to the Geroa chamber. Fortunately, it seemed the palace was empty. He'd been able to move quicker than he expected.

He slipped hastily through the hallways; every turn that led to another empty hallway gave him more confidence, and he began to move faster. The cold stone hallways of the far end of the royal palace had once struck him as out of place in the opulence of Sandalphon. He'd since come to understand the reasoning behind it. There was no reason to impress or awe here. No one but those that knew the secrets of the beast came this far back. Of course, even he had never been this far back before.

Ahead, he saw a pair of massive double doors. He slowed. "This must be the Geroa Chamber," he muttered to himself. "If Seto's guesses are right, this is the heart of Sandalphon, where the prelates are sent to regenerate once they die."

He stood for another moment, muttering quietly as much to convince himself to move forward as anything else. He strode forward, a moment later, and pulled open the doors. Inside were six stone slabs, each much the size of a bed. In the centre of the room was a thick, deeply ornamented stone disk. Damien stepped slowly inside and glanced upward at the dome shaped ceiling. "What now?" he wondered aloud.

Suddenly, a slight noise caught his attention. He looked down to the stone disk on the floor and noticed that it was slightly outside of its housing. Moreover, beneath it he could clearly see that the room continued. It took a few minutes to fully wrench the disk away, but once it was off he could see a spiral staircase descending. The rogue steeled himself, and then began to descend.

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The last cell door creaked open, and Serenity peered inside. Her heart jumped immediately. Within the cell, Yugi Moto lay against the wall. She slipped inside the cell and raced to her friend's side. "Yugi? Yugi?"

Yugi opened his eyes slowly and sat up. "Hey Serenity. How long have I been out?"

She shook her head. "I don't know. I just found you… It's great to see you again."

The boy chuckled. "I guess it's been a while," he said. "Although if I'd known Kaiba's game would be mostly napping in a cell I might not have come."

Giggling in turn, Serenity rose to her feet. "Can you move?"

Yugi forced himself up. "Yeah, no problem," he said. "How's the situation looking?"

"Not good," Serenity answered. "Everyone's trying to stop them from summoning Exodia, but they already have all the cards, and thanks to me they know its name too."

"Are we too late?"

The girl shook her head. "No, but times running out. We need to hurry, Yugi."

Yugi moved to the door. "They took my cards away," he said. "I'm not much use without them."

"That's fine," she replied. "It's just great not to be the only human being in the game anymore. I mean… you are Yugi, right?"

"Yeah. Why?"

She looked up at him. "Tell me something only Yugi would know," she demanded.

Flashing a confused look at her, Yugi bit his lip in thought. "Okay… well, Joey once had a nightmare where he was being eaten by rice balls. Is that good enough?"

The girl wrapped Yugi in a hug. "Sorry," she muttered, "but they sent a Copycat of you, so… I had to be sure."

Yugi grinned and gently parted himself from Serenity. "All right, all right. Are we ready to go stop the bad guys?"

"Right," Serenity answered. "Come on, let's go."

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Deep beneath the Geroa chamber, the long stair climb finally came to an end. Damien snuck out onto the stone platform. Along the side heavy stone steps ran down to the floor of the massive underground chamber. In the centre of the room, a giant pentagram within a circle was carved into the floor. Within each point stood a stone pedestal. Atop every stone pedestal was a piece of the Forbidden One.

The prelates were all in attendance. Each stood at a pedestal with their hands on a card. Only Azrael was without a card, and he stood in the centre of the massive pentagram. It occurred to Damien immediately what was going on – the summoning point for the Forbidden One had been beneath Sandalphon all along. Or, more likely, the city itself had evolved from the summoning point.

Just outside of the circle, Remiel stood solemnly. "Are we prepared?" he called.

"Nearly, oh Deiprelate," Chamuel called.

"But understand," Raziel added, "that this summoning must go perfectly. We have expended too much energy for it to fail."

"I understand completely," Remiel replied. "It is my expectation that this, the culmination of the Creator's will, be the glorious event it was meant to be. The reunification of the deities…"

"And the end of the human experiment," Azrael assured him.

"You're prepared?" Raphael asked.

"I am," Remiel answered.

"You will be the last," Phanuel said.

"But I too will go. I am prepared for that sacrifice."

Damien listened intently, pressed against the stone railing at the edge of the stairs. Answers were hard to come by, and this seemed like it might be his last chance to get them. Something in his chest urged him to charge, and to forget getting his answers. But Remiel began to speak again, and he suppressed the voice.

"Today assured me completely of this course. To think that our enemies would enlist fiends against us… My hope is killed, save for this course."

"And what of the others that know of our path?" Jophiel inquired.

"It is too late," Remiel answered. "We are prepared for the summoning now."

"As long as we are corporeal we are vulnerable," Raziel stated. "Our history should teach us that."

"But not once the grand unification is complete," Raphael assured him. "We take a great risk, but it is a calculated one."

"And a necessary one," Azrael hissed.

"I am ready," Phanuel suddenly chimed in.

"I am ready," Chamuel replied.

"I am ready," Raziel agreed.

Jophiel spoke next, "I am ready."

"I am ready," Raphael said.

"I am ready," Azrael stated.

Remiel nodded. "I summon… Exodia!"

Suddenly, the circle began to glow and Damien could wait no longer. He stood, drawing his rapier in the course of the action, and heaved it forward. It flew though the air, streaking downward, and imbedded itself in Raziel's chest.

The prelate grunted in pain and grabbed the handle of the blade, looking upward to where Damien charged nimbly down the stairs. But by then the light had become so great that the rogue could stand it no longer, and he stumbled to a halt. A surge of energy erupted from the summoning circle, and in that moment it tore the ceiling from the structure and began to pulse outward. Cracks formed in the stairs; the entire building trembled. Damien turned and ran back.

Standing just outside the summoning circle, Remiel's blind eyes didn't see the light. He stood enveloped in a sphere of protection, untouched by the destructive potential of the summoning. He smiled slightly from behind his cascading hair. This is what he had waited for.

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As the light tore off the roof of the far wing of the palace, Sagaelen and the Countess stopped on the bridge. "We're too late," the Countess stated. "This must be the summoning."

"It was here," Sagaelen muttered.

"Sagaelen! What's happening?" came a cry from behind, and the sage turned to see Serenity standing with Yugi.

Above, the wind was picking up, and he had to yell to be heard. "The summoning has begun!" he cried.

"What now?" Serenity asked Yugi.

The duellist shook his head. This wasn't the first time he'd noticed it, but without his other self he was becoming indecisive. The group stood on the stone bridge and stared as the energy from the summoning began to spread, tearing apart more and more of the palace.

A moment later, they saw a form racing towards them across the bridge. Damien waved his hands when he saw them, and then hastily motioned them back. "Run!" he cried.

The group hesitated for a moment, before turning and racing back towards the gates of Sandalphon.

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Seto had stopped too, on one of the walkways between the palace's various structures. He watched in silence as the sky above darkened, and as the power of the Forbidden One began to ripple outward. "Damn you, Raphael," he cursed.

He brooded for a moment on where to go from there. Battling it would be near impossible, at least, if the summoning was any indication. His hope for the moment was to slow it until a plan could be hatched. For that, he did have a plan. But first, he needed to find Serenity. He would not fail to protect her, especially not now.

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The computers in the command room worked frantically. Mokuba stared in silence at the data they were feeding him. Near the door of the room, Seto stood with his arms folded, watching quietly.

"Everything normal so far," one tech called.

"Feedback from the new entity is high level, we're receiving ten new data types," a second added.

"Principles?" Mokuba asked.

"Static," a tech confirmed. The young Kaiba relaxed. "No," the tech interjected a moment later, "wait… We're getting new feedback. It's spawning tertiary principles at an alarming rate."

Mokuba looked at his own screen and called the interface. "What's the cause?" he demanded.

"Unknown."

"Secondary principles being formed," another tech interrupted. "No wait… it's forming primary principles!"

"What?" the elder Kaiba barked.

"Mr. Kaiba, I think you need to look at this data!"

Kaiba pushed the tech out of the way and stared at the computer. Before he could even look at the screen, reports began to come in from other techs throughout the room.

"We're getting interference in the weather algorithms!"

"Something's breaching the acute temporal normalizers!"

"Is it a virus?"

"We've got interference in the reality synchronization programs too!"

"Mr. Kaiba, what's happening?"

Seto Kaiba read the central new primary principle, and suddenly it began to make sense. It simply read, _Escape_.

"It's self-aware," he explained.

A/N: Ooh, exciting. More things for me to deal with come next chapter. It'll be a little while until then, though, so I encourage you to fill in some of the downtime by letting me know what you thought. Criticism is very much appreciated.


	32. Second Battle of Cobalt

A/N: I'm not completely happy with this chapter. I have my own set of issues with it, but I'll let you look at it unbiased. With a good betaing job and a fair amount of tweaking, it's good enough that I feel confident posting it. For the rest, I'll let you decide. Thanks for everyone whose been reviewing, by the way. I always want to thank people for the effort, but I have the memory of a goldfish. In any case, those of you that have been giving criticism, I'm keeping everything you said in mind. Well, enjoy.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! I lease.

**Chapter Thirty-Two: Second Battle of Cobalt**

The door broke down, and for a moment no one within the city of Cobalt stirred. The moment, however, didn't last. Through the splintered doors, the heavily armoured and armed soldiers of Kaiba's army charged. Raguel rallied the Holy Guard quickly, and they rushed out to meet them. Weapons clashed, and it seemed as though the Holy Guard could hold back the army. Then, the line began to crumple like a girder under too much weight. Raguel called the retreat.

The soldiers charged back, stopping the moment they'd crossed the deep trench they had prepared and wheeling to fight their foe. They'd been ready to retreat. They would not, however, give up the entrance to the city. The clamour of battle rose again; the line held.

"Quickly," Raguel barked to the troops back from the line, "prepare for the next wave. We won't hold them long here." Glancing over his men, Raguel realized how true that was. Fallacian's forces were taking heavy casualties in the first few moments of the battle, but their numbers were overwhelming. Moreover, the bodies of their men had nearly filled the trench. Soon, they'd be on even footing. It was a crude tactic, but effective. Still, it seemed unlike Fallacian. In the Belya Uprising, his elegant military tactics had won him many distinctions. To think he'd try something as simple as overwhelming numbers was unlikely.

When he heard a resounding crack against the gate further north, he realized why. He brusquely nominated a score of soldiers from the back of the line and led them north. Even with the battering ram in position, it would take them a few moments to make their way through the gate. They'd simply have to be ready to stop them by then. It was difficult, but not impossible.

The group of holy guardsmen reached the gate just as it began to give. Another flood of soldiers raged through, and the eunuchs charged to meet them. Raguel slid through the fray with ease. Even the army's elite were overmatched by a blackguard, especially one as experienced as Raguel. His objective was the rooftop nearest the entryway. From there, marshalling the soldiers to hold back the enemy would be possible. Until he reached that objective, they were fighting blind.

A soldier lunged at Raguel, but the blackguard swatted his blade aside and slipped past him. He ducked beneath another weapon, blocking yet another blow with his katana, and then spun through the lock. None of his attacks struck an enemy. They weren't meant to. He just needed to reach his objective.

Exiting his defensive spin, Raguel slammed his back against the house wall and quickly parried a few more aggressive strikes. He could hold his enemies at bay, but he was quickly realizing that climbing the house would be impossible. Slowly, he worked his way to where a few barrels stood along the wall. They might provide him the route he needed.

Raguel dropped down as a blade darted past his defences and nearly grazed his shoulder. He swatted it aside and rose again, even as his blade crossed back and forth twice to keep other weapons away. He caught sight of one of the soldiers in the mass preparing a low strike and leapt. Coming down atop the blade, he used the boost to propel himself onto the barrel.

The downside, of course, of beginning his ascent was that he was now exposed from even more angles. Sweat began to trickle down his forehead as both his blade and now his scabbard worked furiously to keep the swarm of enemies beneath him at bay. Twice he reached to try and find a hold, but there were no ways to keep his hand aloft long enough to grab hold of anything. On the third attempt, he felt something grab his hand, and he was jerked onto the rooftop.

Skittering back from the edge on all fours, Raguel heaved in great breaths. He was exhausted. A moment flitted by, and then the blackguard glanced about to find his benefactor. Across the rooftop, as lost in marshalling troops as Raguel had hoped to be, was Warlord Fallacian. The soldier wore a thick suit of plate mail. In one hand he clutched a great sword, and in the other he held a battleaxe. He was immense.

Fallacian caught the look and eyed Raguel. "Not the wisest decision you've made," he admonished.

"I needed to see the battlefield."

"You haven't been a commander long."

Casting a glare at the warlord, Raguel forced himself to his feet. "I've had men under my command for seven years."

"But you've never led them into a battle."

The blackguard spat at his feet. "I suppose I lack your murderous career."

Fallacian's hands tightened, and he turned to face the blackguard fully. He stepped forward, and then relaxed slightly. "This will be the last battle I have to fight," he stated.

Of course, the warlord didn't know how right he was. Toward the north, the crackling of energy seemed to reflect that the summoning of the Forbidden One was underway.

"You think we'll acknowledge your right to the throne if you take it by force?"

"Better me than your politician."

The blackguard renewed his grip on his katana. He could feel his strength returning, so he only needed to keep back from battling the warlord for a few more moments. "This battle won't solve anything."

"It will! It must! Too much has been sacrificed!"

"Who are you?" Raguel asked accusingly. "Weren't you the general who fought an entire campaign with no deaths? Didn't your tactics maintain your entire division in the Belya Uprising? Why send your men to die now?"

"Because to defeat some foes, you must make sacrifices."

The tip of Raguel's sword levelled itself at Fallacian. "You're accomplishing nothing but proving that you're unfit to sit on the throne your men are dying to claim."

"And who are you to speak to me of justice?"

"I am the blade of the Creator!"

Fallacian had stopped listening. He rushed forward, swinging his battleaxe in a quick slash. Raguel ducked, but he knew that Fallacian would follow with the great sword. As he darted under the warlord's outstretched arm, he could feel the blade puncture the roof where he'd stood a moment before. His blade struck at the warlord. Instead of finding a gap in his armour, however, the blade simply rang against the thick plate mail.

The battleaxe came across again in another broad swing, this time low. Raguel leapt agilely to avoid the slash, but the sword came across higher, from the other direction. Parrying the blow, Raguel's body rippled from the power behind it. The strike drove him back down, and Raguel darted away from the warlord again.

Fallacian kept charging. He slashed both weapons in an 'x' at the blackguard, who barely managed to keep back out of range. Even though he avoided the attack, Raguel nearly lost his footing as the building shuddered from the force of the strike.

Realizing that keeping back was worse than getting in close, Raguel darted forward in the moment before Fallacian could draw back his weapons. His strikes were powerful, but that reflected a tendency to over-extend. By staying close, he could take the force out of Fallacian's arms. The blackguard kicked forward off of the axe imbedded in the rooftop, and slashed hard in both directions along the warlord's armour. He could not find a gap. A nimble landing allowed him to dart along side the warlord, and a few sidelong slashes along his thick leg again failed to find a home. Then, Fallacian's arm jerked back and slammed into the blackguard, sending him rolling along the rooftop.

Raguel found his feet just in time to spring away from the warlord's double vertical slash. The rooftop shook again. As it did, Raguel realized he finally had a tactic to beat the warlord.

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Seto quickly found himself running alongside Serenity, Sagaelen, Yugi and the Countess. The two groups had inevitably crossed paths in their charge away from the crackling energy sphere beginning to grow from the back section of the Holy Palace.

"You found him again?" Seto barked.

"It's him this time!" Serenity called back, trying her best to sound wounded.

"Did you check?"

"I'm not irresponsible, y'know!"

"Come on, Prince, you can trust me!"

Seto simply grunted. The group began to descend the stairs, and a moment later they erupted back into the streets of Sandalphon. The guards, transfixed by the force swelling in the palace, didn't seem to notice. They slowed to a halt.

"Ideas," Seto said.

"I was still okay with running," Sagaelen suggested.

Yugi shook his head slowly. "It has to have some weakness. Nothing is invincible."

"It doesn't even seem to have a form, yet," Seto said.

As if on cue, the orb of energy stopped growing. Cracks began to form in its surface, and like a glass sphere it shattered. It revealed the form of their foe. Within, standing nearly seventy-five metres tall, was the muscle-bound, thick form of the Forbidden One. The cards hardly did it justice.

"Request granted," Damien quipped as he slipped from the gates of the palace.

The others barely acknowledged his arrival, except with a slight nod. They were too involved with assessing the threat. "How do we fight something that large?" Seto muttered.

"Perhaps it's soft?" Sagaelen ventured.

A moment later, as the beast turned, its massive arms smashed through the brittle stone of the remnants of the palace. "I don't think so," Yugi answered.

The Countess motioned to the gates. "We ought to close the gates. It won't likely contain him, but it could give us a little longer to think."

"Good. Let's do that," Damien said. "If I remember correctly, they're controlled by the tower to the east. I know how to work them, so I'll go."

"I'll go too," Seto grunted.

"No, stay with the rest. Protect the girls, all right?"

"We don't need protection, Damien," Serenity stressed.

The rogue winked. "Heck, I knew that. I just figured you'd been away from your prince long enough that you might be going into withdrawal." Without waiting for a retort, the rogue darted off.

Seto shook his head and glanced back at Serenity, only to realize she was blushing and looking away from the short spellcaster. Yugi glanced up at the prince and offered him a sheepish smile. The prince grunted his disgust and strode ahead of the group.

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The anomalous activities in the subprograms began to flood in, and Kaiba knew exactly what the source was. They were being invaded. His firewalls remained inactive, but then again, that was to be expected. As he glanced at the adjacent room that held the Overmind supercomputer, he set his jaw. The invader they were battling was already within.

"Begin recoding the anomalous sectors," he barked as his fingers began to dance across the keyboard. "Undo the damage it's doing until we can get it under control."

"It's moving quickly!" a tech cried in protest.

"So move faster!"

With a few keystrokes, Kaiba called a code summary and commanded the program to highlight in red code what had recently been changed. The sight nearly stunned him. What the entity within the Overmind was attacking most fiercely were the interface firewalls between the users and the supercomputer. It was trying to break into the minds of the players. On the opposing front, it seemed to be exerting almost as much of its attentions into destroying the network firewalls. It seemed it was trying to upload itself.

"Sever all connections to the network from the Overmind and the consoles," Seto shouted.

"But Mr. Kaiba, we may need to upload back up support-"

"No time," he grunted. "This…" he struggled on what to call the activities of the newly-summoned Exodia within the program. It had clearly gone beyond the state of a mere AI script, but it showed no signs of genuine intelligence like Prince Seto had achieved. "This virus," he stated finally, "cannot be allowed to upload itself. Not to our users and certainly not to the internet."

"But Mr. Kaiba!"

Mokuba shoved the tech out of the chair and executed his brother's command. "Done, Seto," he called.

"Good. Now, start repairing the user firewalls."

"Mr. Kaiba!" someone called.

"What?"

"It has taken control of the Fate Generation Engine."

The CEO turned and stared at the tech. "Put it on the main screen."

A few quick keystrokes called the complex web to the screen mounted above. One by one, the connections between the characters and each other began to fade. Lines of hate, lines of affection, lines of rivalry, each began to disappear. Then, as one, every character sprouted a line attaching themselves to Exodia. Each character was attached by a dark blue line: a line of subordination. A line of despair.

"He's killing off the resistance with the programs," Kaiba murmured, a hint of admiration in his voice. "Take it back," he grunted as he turned back to his screen.

"Mr. Kaiba!"

"What?" he shouted irritably.

"We've found Tristan Taylor."

Kaiba stood, and glanced down to the bottom of the entry stairs. There, two of his goons stood with the troublemaker in their arms. Kaiba had planned on browbeating the idiot when they found him. Now, he didn't have the time or the inclination. "Throw him out," he ordered.

"Kaiba! What's going on up there? Is Serenity in danger?"

"Get him out of here!" Kaiba shouted.

"Kaiba!" Tristan yelled. "If she's in danger, you'd better let her go!"

With no intention of replying, Kaiba turned back to his monitor and went to work. Only one communication firewall remained between the Overmind and the users.

"Kaiba!"

The code turned red. It was being changed.

"Kaiba! Tell me what's going on!"

The edits began to pile up, and Kaiba worked furiously to replace the code. Each tech attacked the firewall on a different front, but they couldn't compete with the processing speed of the Overmind.

"Kaiba!"

Finally, Tristan broke free of the goons and rushed the stairs. Kaiba didn't even notice until Tristan had lifted him from the seat and struck him the face. He staggered back, falling against the window to the chamber of the Overmind. Even as he did, his eyes return to the monitor. The last firewall gave.

Tristan caught his gaze, and glanced at the screen. The thugs grabbed him just as Kaiba reached him; if they hadn't, the CEO might have broken Tristan's nose. "It's too late now," he muttered. "What the hell did you think you were accomplishing? Calling the cops on me?"

"I was there! I saw the computer problems! Admit it, this program isn't safe!"

"And you figured that out with your in depth knowledge of computers?"

"It doesn't take a programmer to tell when something goes wrong!"

"This is my test."

Tristan spat at the CEO. "It's Serenity's life."

Wiping his face, Seto narrowed his eyes at the pointy-haired brunette. "You're right. Why don't you let _her_ worry about it?"

Muscles tensed as Tristan pulled against the goons. "Because she doesn't know!"

Kaiba brushed past Tristan and sat back at his terminal. He watched as the code began to shift in the user terminals. Exodia was beginning to invade the users' minds. "Well, let's see how she fights now." He eyed the goons. "Get him out of here."

"I'm not leaving, Kaiba!"

"So you're going to stay here and distract the only people who can fix things?"

Tristan tensed, but he remained resolute. Even given his disdain for the man, Kaiba could tell he had no intention of giving up. "I don't care what you do with him," Kaiba ceded, "just get him out of my sight."

Dragging the youth off, Tristan gave one last glance at Serenity's terminal. He'd find a way to help her. He had to.

"Mokuba," Kaiba called once Tristan had left, "what progress is it making on their brainwaves?"

"An average of about five percent invasion so far," Mokuba said softly. "And rising. We need to slow it down somehow…"

Nodding quietly, Kaiba turned and eyed the Overmind supercomputer. "Mokuba," he grunted, "vent the atmosphere of the Overmind and begin heating the chamber."

"Raise the resistance and lag it?" Mokuba asked with a smile. "All right. Let's make some lag."

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Raguel kicked off the battleaxe as it passed underneath him and slashed at Fallacian's head. The warlord parried, and the slashing great sword drove Raguel down. He braced himself against the heavy armour on Fallacian's leg and kicked back into the air. Metal on metal shrieked as a horizontal slash met Fallacian's plate. Then the axe was on him again. Pushing it away with his leg and driving himself further airborne, Raguel's free leg shot out and kicked back off Fallacian's bulk. The attack had won him nothing.

Landing, Raguel allowed himself to hesitate for a second. Fallacian charged, slashing overhead, and the blackguard darted back. The building shuddered again. Raguel's free hand grabbed his cloak, more tattered now, and eyed the warlord.

"Almost," he said teasingly.

Fallacian smirked back. "You can't even cut me; why haven't you fled yet?"

"If I turn my back, you'll kill me."

"Oh, that's why."

Every step Fallacian took toward Raguel caused the building to shudder. His repeated slashes had always met rooftop instead of blackguard, making it take the brunt of the assault. Raguel darted forward again, and Fallacian's weapons crossed horizontally. He leapt above the cross and swung for Fallacian's head, but the warrior stepped away with surprising agility and the blade met heavy armour. While his weapons were extended, Fallacian managed to punch his elbow into the blackguard, who braced for the attack. He flew backward, but landed on his feet. He charged immediately.

Fallacian's powerful weapons couldn't keep up with the blackguard's agility. He darted around the warlord, striking steel every time he thought he'd found an opening. Fallacian was slower than the blackguard, but fighting the man was like fighting a fortress; there were no weaknesses to be found. Finally, the blackguard was left no choice but to parry one of his powerful overhead strikes. He found his feet slipping through the shingles. Throwing himself backward, Raguel slid out of range of the attack.

Thunderous footfalls echoed from Fallacian's charge, and Raguel charged forward. Fallacian brought his weapons overhead, and Raguel rolled past him. The roof rocked and whined. Pushing, Raguel propelled himself as far backward as he could go.

Sheathing the blade in mid-air, Raguel grabbed the lip of the roof across the narrow alleyway. He watched intently as the rooftop shuddered again, and then it had had enough. The myriad strikes that had punctured it had finally ruptured the trusses, and the rooftop collapsed. Raguel pulled himself to the rooftop and saluted his foe. He had no illusions that the fall would hold Fallacian, but it gave him enough time to escape the fray. Raguel was no coward; he did, however, know when he was overmatched.

He glanced to the north, and he could already see the titanic form of the Forbidden One towering over Sandalphon. Suddenly, he felt a wave of despair hit him. He fell to his knees on the rooftop. It seemed irrational, but fear overwhelmed him. It took all his willpower to force himself to his feet, and he turned from the monster and back to the battle. His men were dying. Every entranceway was being lost. He couldn't muster the strength to care. He simply had to run.

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Accompanied by nothing but the soft clattering of keys, Mokuba sifted through the streams of data. "We're at an average of 10 percent invasion," he called to his brother. "He's starting to effect emotional reactions."

"Fine. Let me know when it gets dangerous," Kaiba replied. It was already too late to withdraw the minds from the game. From the moment Exodia had begun corrupting the minds of the users, it was no longer a safe option. Kaiba's ears pricked suddenly. Mokuba had stopped typing.

"Mokuba?"

"Seto… I think you should see this."

"Busy. What is it?"

The black-haired Kaiba gulped. "There's an active consciousness in one of the player's cells."

Kaiba wheeled to look. "Whose?"

"Yugi's."

By then Kaiba was on his feet. He crossed the room and leaned over his brother, reading the output. "How is that possible? He's still immersed in the game."

"It seems to be preventing the virus from affecting him. He's the only person in the game with complete controls over his emotions now. But I don't understand. The only way that could happen is if there were two consciousnesses…"

"No," Kaiba replied with a curt headshake. "That's impossible. There's a reasonable explanation."

Mokuba glanced up at his brother, but Kaiba was already back to work.

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Damien's hands left the controls as soon as he watched his comrades leave the city. Between the two towers, energy began to crackle and the barrier of Sandalphon formed. Still, the only sound that Damien could hear was the songs of praise rising from Sandalphon. Not even the commotion of the summoning had brought them from their churches. Not even the sound of their city being torn apart by a malevolent deity silenced their praise.

The rouge strode to the window of the white tower to look down on the city. As he did, he saw ahead the massive form of the Forbidden One. A wave of terror crossed him. The first time he'd seen the beast, his feelings had been awe. Now, he felt terror. He tried to steel himself, but the fear was crippling. Forcing himself to look away, Damien strode to the far window and cast down his rope. The entire descent, Damien kept his eyes closed. He feared to even glimpse the monster.

When he reached the bottom, he found the others collected. A similar state of terror seemed to be overwhelming them. Sagaelen paced frantically, eyes not leaving the beast, while the Countess simply stared. Ahead of the group, Seto neither looked nor seemed to notice. Serenity trembled.

Only Yugi seemed yet unaffected by the aura of fear the Forbidden One's massive form exuded. "Come on, guys," Yugi called. "We need to keep moving."

To the north, the form of their enemy was already trampling through Sandalphon. On either side the churches collapses as its massive hands dragged through them. Every step rocked the city; the songs of praise continued.

"We're afraid, Yugi. Aren't you?" Serenity asked.

"A little," he said levelly. "But not really." He moved beside Serenity. "It's just a game, right?"

Serenity nodded. "I don't know why I'm scared."

The boy tried to read Serenity's expression. "Maybe it's part of the program," he offered.

"Then… why isn't it affecting you?"

Yugi had an inkling why. He could feel his other self's presence for the first time since he'd arrived, but he clearly wasn't within the game. Quite possibly, he was resisting whatever effects the program was having on Serenity. A quick glance at the others confirmed that they, too, were affected by the presence of Exodia.

"If you're scared," he offered, "why don't we flee? I know that thing is dangerous, but we can still defeat it, right?"

Seto nodded. "It can be done. Kaiba did it. I can do it."

"How?"

As he turned back, Seto caught Sagaelen's line of sight. The sage was fixated at Exodia's shoulder. Atop it, a lone human form could be made out.

"Remiel," Seto seethed. "There, on the shoulder. Remiel seems to be in charge of the beast. We can stop him, if not the monster."

"But if we kill Remiel, won't the monster go berserk?" the Countess asked.

"We… We have to try," Serenity stated resolutely. "We can overcome it."

"It does seem to be our only course of action," Damien agreed. "But how do we get up there?"

"I can," Seto asserted. "I have Mokuba. The rest of you, keep going south. You might be able to marshal some defence against it if killing Remiel doesn't work."

"Seto," Serenity called.

The prince turned and looked poignantly at Yugi, and then back to her. "What?"

"You know, you idiot."

Yugi eyed Serenity, and the girl blushed again. In front of her real-life friend, the absurdity of her romance seemed magnified.

"No, what?"

She sighed. "Be careful."

"Why?"

Serenity hesitated. Suddenly, she felt Yugi nudge her toward the warrior. She blushed. "Because I'd miss you… if something happened."

A/N: Like I said, I'm not completely happy with it. Next chapter… well, there should be some Seto Serenity interaction. Hurray! Also, two villains will make appearances and there should be some major revelations. Should be a good chapter. Lemme know what you thought of this one, and as always I love criticism.


	33. The Liar's Throne

A/N:Well, I'll bet you didn't see _this_ coming.

In all seriousness, clearly this chapter is coming out after a brief hiatus. I'll go into a bit more detail in my author's note at the end, but I'm going to ask a little... forbearance... with this chapter. I am not wholly happy with it, but it's a necessary transition to an end of the story that I am happy with. So please, read on and forgive the parts that need forgiveness.

**Disclaimer:** You know this already.

**Chapter Thirty-Three: The Liar's Throne**

Seto closed his eyes as the others left and turned toward the Forbidden One. Even without seeing it, he felt the terror gripping him again. But he wouldn't let himself be stopped by fear. If that punk Yugi could be so unfazed, Seto would too. He forced his eyes open. "Well… hell."

Behind him were the two towers that formed the gates of Sandalphon. Between them, the energy barrier that Damien had activated cracked softly, but pressed against the thin, impenetrable barrier was the ragged form of a beaten Black Magician of Chaos. Seto recognized it at once as the most powerful of the fiends. Behind him was a trail of ichor flowing from his injuries, leading back to the ruined palace of the deiprelate.

"Let me out, Prince…"

"And risk releasing the Forbidden One?"

The Tyrant looked over his shoulder at the form of the beast. "There's still time. Prince! The monster is not here yet! I've made it this far in the chaos, I will not be stopped now!" The beast quaked with fear. "I can barter," he offered, desperately.

Seto narrowed his eyes at the creature. "And what do you have that I want?" he asked.

"Information."

"About?"

"The human experiment."

Seto quirked an eyebrow. "You've been watching me?"

"Checking your progress… I am a magician of some power, I've scryed… from time to time…"

"Then you should know," Seto said coldly, "that that information is no longer useful to me."

The Tyrant glanced quickly over his shoulder at the Forbidden One's approach. "You will suffer, prince! You humans are so self-righteous… You are not so different from me!"

The prince kept his eyes down, away from the approaching beast, and on the Tyrant. "I'm not a monster," he spat.

"Yes, you are," The Tyrant snarled. "Humans were created in the same way as fiends, you're just the earlier version. The first draft!"

"Save your lies, they won't save you."

"You're too cowardly to accept the truth. Allow me… to show you!" He reared his staff and fired a weak beam up and over the barrier, the last of his magical energy. Cresting high above, the beam descended on the Prince. Seto leapt out of the way, but the beam followed and hit him, consuming him in a vision.

_The vision was simple, the kind of partial image a weak spell could conjure. Seto inhabited the field of view of a Dark Magician standing on a raised platform. They were inside some sort of large stone pyramid, and beneath them were hundreds of duel monsters, milling about in the darkness._

"_We are ready," he heard his host say. "Shall we begin the experiment?"_

"_Yes," a Dark Magician Girl concurred. Seto strained to see what was going on, but he had little control over his host. The magicians raised their staffs together, and then the pyramid lit up. Energy filled it like a flood, and only the platform that held the mages was protected. The energy crackled and roared minute by minute, thundering down like a wave over the platform, and then vanished as quickly as it had come._

_Seto's host rose to his feet and walked to the edge of the platform. Beneath, hundreds of charred bodies layered the floor of the temple, exactly as they had planned._

_A Dark Magician girl approached and looked over his shoulder. "And the spirits won't leave this temple?"_

"_No. There is nothing for them to do but settle on us. And when they do, we shall gain their power. We shall become like gods unto ourselves. We shall use this sacrifice to reshape the world." _

_The vision faded briefly, and Seto's perspective shifted. Now, he was a shapeless observer somewhere in the darkness. All he could see was the two duel monsters on the platform, but he could see the Dark Magician's face, eyes closed. His vision dwelled on it for a moment, and then the Dark Magician opened his eyes. _

_No, not a Dark Magician. He had become human._

Seto snapped out of the vision and looked up at the grinning Tyrant. "Anyone can make up a vision," he spat.

"You're as much of a monster as I am, Prince!" he shot back. The Tyrant hammered against the barrier, becoming more frantic and desperate with each moment. "You sit there looking so smug, but _I_ am the next evolution! Your festering spirit settles on a duel monster, a return to your origin, and the next evolution occurs! You think I'm an abomination! You're the creation the creator never intended! You self-righteous _bastard_! I'll tear you apart! I'll consume that spirit! Don't thi—"

Exodia's massive fist pounded against the barrier, and the rippling explosion of force tore the surrounding chapels—and the Tyrant– to shreds. The prince steeled himself, backing away from the barrier as explosive blow after blow began to shatter the very towers that held the barrier in place.

He tried to forget the Tyrant's vision. He had no time to be contemplating the origin of his kin. Exodia was escaping. It took only a few moments, the sheer force of each strike splitting the air, before the towers cracked. The brick structures bowed behind the force of the punches, then wrenched once and collapsed; the barrier crackled and flared out of existence.

But Seto was not caught unaware. He'd conjured his Blue-Eyes and jetted into the air, climbing the seemingly endless distance to the head of the Forbidden One. Nearing range, Seto unleashed the full force of his attack at Remiel.

But Ui easily raised his hand and blocked the attack. The lightning tore into his hand, but the wound sucked in the energy and chaff from the air, repairing itself. Fighting was not an option.

"Remiel!" he called. "Stop this madness!"

The Deiprelate turned his blind eyes to the prince. "Prince, you've come for the final act. Did you hear the thunder of the destructor? He's announcing the finale."

"Don't do this! Everyone will die! There is nothing of value in this!"

"Death is of value, prince. The end of suffering."

"The end of everything!"

"That is the only way to end suffering."

Seto tensed, reeling his dragon back around. "If you're suffering, end your own pathetic existence. This isn't your decision to make!"

"It's a decision already made."

"Remiel!"

"Exodia…"

Seto's eyes widened. "Remiel, _no_!"

"Obliterate!"

An explosion of energy ripped through the air, straight toward the prince. The Blue Eyes White Dragon that was Mokuba kicked his neck back, throwing Seto into the air and away from the dragon as it was eradicated, but he couldn't throw him far enough. Seto spun in the air, the beam roaring over his side and left arm. The energy ripped through his arm, charring it to the bone, his armour shattered, and the prince was left hanging in space some seventy-five metres above the ground.

Seto plummeted, lost to the lethargic movement of the Forbidden One past him. He hit the ground, bouncing slightly with a sickening thud before settling in the dirt. His right arm flailed, vaguely aware that he was dying, and he tried to pull himself to his feet. A roar of agony escaped his throat, indignant. He was not ready to die, but despite his agonized cries of defiance, the darkness slowly took the prince.

* * *

"It's happened, Your Majesty. The Forbidden One has been summoned," Naphar intoned.

The Empress nodded quietly and stood, making her way toward the central hall of her palace. The Nocturne followed, Pacias in tow, already aware of what his liege intended. She'd assembled every spirit sorceress in the kingdom, preparing for this event. Now, she would lead them in a ritual to contain and weaken the Forbidden One, trusting the rest to the warriors in Kaiba.

Entering the main hall, the Empress took to the dais in the centre of the room. This chamber had once been used often to bless and protect Venyore. It had seen bloodshed under tyrants, been used for corrupt purposes and cruelty, but it had also seen the light of hope under just rulers and it had safeguarded Venyore. Now, it would be used for the most important purpose in its existence.

"As you are no doubt aware a great… fear… has emerged within Kaiba," the Empress began quietly. "We here in Venyore are not immune from blame for its existence. Every human has reason to fear this creature. But this is not cause to despair. Rather, it should be our driving force to fight."

The Empress looked around at the huddled sorceresses, and, emboldened by her own words and the thought of a still struggling prince, she went on, "There are others… good people fighting now in a battle that, by all estimates, is already lost. But the people of Kaiba are brave. The people of Kaiba venerate a man that slew gods once, and they know they can do it again. The people of Kaiba will not be despairing, for they know that any fight can be won by a great enough champion.

"But what do the people of Venyore believe? Ours is not so clear a history. We've had great tyrants, but few great people. But if that is the case, where are our tyrants now? Gone. Defeated. And how? Not by the one hero. But by the many that would not accept defeat. The people arose and removed Miho the Vicious. The people arose and slew Leichter the Lecherous. We have prevailed by knowing that always the just will stand together, and stand together we shall. The people of Kaiba are fighting now, driving their great hero forward. Let the people of Venyore show them that no victor fights alone."

* * *

After nearly an hour of racing away from Sandalphon, a group of wagons sped past Yugi and the others, kicking up dust in their frantic flight to the south. "Hey!" the young duellist cried out at the nearest wagon. "Hey, where are you going?"

Slowing suddenly, the last wagon in the train wheeled around to stop in front of the group. A redheaded teen leaned his head out of the back of the wagon and eyed Damien first, then Serenity and finally settled his eyes on Yugi. "Don't know how much of it is true," he drawled, "but we got word there's an army amassing at Yugi's Pass. A mercenary by the name of Starke is with most of the refugees from Cobalt, he's trying to stage a resistance."

"Against the Forbidden One?"

The kid made a face, "Huh? No, against the coup d'etat at the capital. Forbidden One?"

"You're telling me there's an army forming and they haven't mentioned Sandalphon?" Damien demanded.

"Sandalphon? I heard it mentioned but… you mean there's another fight going on?" the kid asked.

By then, Damien had already climbed into the wagon and was helping the others in. "You're taking us to this Starke guy," he barked.

"Pronto!" Sagaelen added.

The wagon bolted to catch up with the others, and most of its occupants huddled together, heatedly discussing the day's activities. Only Serenity turned her eyes to the north. Part of her feared to see the coming of that creature again. But she knew that she needed to keep watching. She needed to know that Seto was alive.

* * *

"I'm going in," Kaiba said coldly.

"Seto! You _can't_!" Mokuba protested, grabbing him by the shoulder. "Exodia is corrupting the mental patterns of the players. It's not safe to put anyone else in right now!"

Kaiba brushed his brother off. "I'll be going in at a lower immersion level than all our other users. That thing won't touch me. It may have the upper hand, but Seto Kaiba doesn't lose."

Mokuba dashed between Kaiba and the exit room of the terminal. "And if you're wrong? I know your pod has more firewalls than the user pods, but even then you'd have at most a few minutes. And with so much of the system under control of the virus, even the god program won't be able to stop it."

"I'm not going to sit here and let this test go out of control."

"I know, but Seto, you're the only one who knows enough about the program to be in the control room right now." Mokuba sighed. "I know the god program, let me go in—"

"Absolutely not."

"Or send a tech or something."

Kaiba stared down Mokuba, but as he did, he noticed something on the viewscreen above his brother's head. Wheeling on one of the terminals, he quickly gathered all the information he could on the event. The data was astounding; the system strained to handle the death of the Prince, but he had changed too much to be deleted by the normal code.

"I'm going in," he repeated, more softly this time. "But I'm going to be far enough away from the virus that it won't even notice me. I've got a plan. I'm not giving up on this test without a fight."

* * *

The prince awoke to a hollow darkness, an empty plane that seemed completely devoid of light. The pain in his body was gone, but his injuries were still obvious. His arm flickered for an instant as he looked at it, but he didn't have time to focus on it. He pressed himself to his knees, and as he did the faintest glimmer of light seemed to begin. It was then he first became aware of a presence lurking outside his field of vision.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Omnus Genesis," replied the voice, cool and too familiar. "And Ae. Most people call me Kaiba."

"What're you talking about?"

"I don't have time to explain all the mysteries for you, Prince. You've got some work to do."

The prince climbed to his feet. "For someone with no intention of explaining, you like to talk in riddles."

"You're alive, prince. You shouldn't be."

"Agreed, after the blow I took from Ui."

"No, not that. You're _alive_, and with that in mind, I'm surprised you're still so ignorant of what you are."

"And what am I?"

"A lie," the figure responded, stepping into the growing light and revealing himself as a mirror image of the prince, dressed oddly, but nonetheless identical.

The prince's eyes widened. "Who are you?"

"I told you. The Creator. I dreamt up this world, I put it into action. I shaped history in the hours I simulated the growth of this world, and I created every person in it. Well, almost every person. There are a _few_ real people in this place."

He stepped forward, reaching for his sword, but the prince found only the tatters of his destroyed garments. "What are you talking about?" he demanded, nearly frantic.

Kaiba folded his arms. "This world is a game, an imaginary world created for the amusement of those in the real one. Days ago, unwittingly, you welcomed the first batch of real people in to the game at the Academy of Combat. This was a test, and it has stumbled."

"Real people… I'm not some… _illusion_!"

"Not anymore. That's a problem." Kaiba turned away and walked into the shadows. The prince followed, the light staying on him. "You've evolved. Something involving that runt of a girl. Don't pretend you don't know what I mean."

The prince stared tensely, unsure of what to think or how to react. His mind tried to sort out the details, but somehow he couldn't trust its conclusions. "In Cobalt… something has been different since then but… you're not making any sense."

"I can't be much more blunt. Everyone who has been a part of your life before that day has been an illusion. Every memory you have before that day is a lie I wrote for you. Even the memories you have now only _happened_ under a dubious definition of the word."

"Every one I killed… none of them existed?"

"I need you to get past this faster."

"Mokuba?"

"Based on a real person, like you are based on me; he's based on my brother. But my brother is alive and well. _I_ can protect him."

"You son of a –" Seto bit his tongue and growled. "Serenity?"

"That one is real."

Seto reeled, his mind rejecting the thought. "You're lying," he growled.

"You know I'm telling the truth. Your memories lack the same impact life has now. Too idealized. You've started to think."

"Why wouldn't she tell me?" he bellowed.

"Why should she? You're not a real person, what are you to her?"

Tensing, growling, Seto covered his eyes, trying to shut out the distractions. He was flooded with memories, and in each he could see the lies. Here, the snow fell too even, here, the night lasted too long, here, time slowed before a death and here an enemy's smile was far too sinister. Like pages from a melodrama, his life started to unfold and he understood the truth for the first time.

Panic. Chaos.

And Kaiba stood before him, smirking coldly as Seto's life tore to shreds in his mind.

"…I'm real now; you'll get me out of here."

"That was the plan, once. But you died, now your illusion is doing what it was designed to do and deleting itself. Your consciousness remains, but I can't isolate it. There's nothing I can do."

Seto knelt quietly. "So what do you want from me?" he rasped.

"There is one other illusion that has broken free. Exodia, the Forbidden One. Kill it."

The prince looked up at Kaiba indignantly. "And how is a dead man supposed to do that?"

"Your state makes you disruptive to the environment. That means you can only be destroyed directly: Ui will have to fight you to kill you. But you'll win, and the same thing that's happening to you will happen to him: his illusion will destroy itself." Kaiba stopped walking and turned toward the prince. "Unlike the illusions, you're not part of the lie anymore. And unlike the real people, you don't even belong to an abstraction within the system," he said. "That'll prevent you from interacting with anything else on a level other than physical. No summoning, no casting, no emotions."

"No emotions?"

"Other than the ones that are genuine. You're no longer affected by fate. Congratulations."

"You manipulate our emotions?"

"Why not? I _am_ God."

"And why should I bother fighting Ui if he isn't real?"

Kaiba narrowed his eyes at his doppelganger. "Ui is out of control, his actions are threatening the wellbeing of the real people in the game. That includes your… Serenity."

"Who you said deceived me, who you manipulated me into loving!"

"Well, if you don't care for her, you can always do it to sate your messiah complex. I don't care, just do it."

"What if I don't win? If I'm degenerating I might not win in a fair fight."

Kaiba smirked. "It's not going to be a fair fight."

"Tell me."

* * *

An army was massing in the canyon, that much was for certain. Citizens of Kaiba mulled about, distributing weapons and preparing for battle. The impromptu militia was being marshalled by a silhouette moving impatiently about the lower rocks of the canyon. The scarred soldier looked about slowly, frowning at the numbers and quality of the troops he'd managed to bring to the pass.

As the wagon came in, Yugi quickly identified him as the leader and motioned to the group. A moment later he was out of the wagon, rushing toward the brown-haired mercenary. "This is a mistake! There's a bigger problem!" he yelled.

Starke's eyes narrowed, and he looked contemptuously at Yugi. "What are you talking about?"

"The Forbidden O-"

"Shut up!" Starke hissed. He jumped down from the rock and walked toward the group. Damien flanked him cautiously, hand on his sword as Serenity eyed him, but Starke kept his focus on Yugi. "You think I haven't seen that _thing_?" he whispered. "Of course I have. But do you think these men would gather to fight a thing like that? I don't give a damn about Cobalt; let Fallacian have his meaningless city. I plan on making a stand here, and for that I need soldiers."

"What can we do?" Damien interjected.

Starke turned to look at him. "You all look like competent fighters." He paused and glanced briefly at Sagaelen. "You almost all look like competent fighters," he corrected himself. "If you have military experience, try to get the men into groups and find leaders. I'd do it myself, but we're working on siege machines. If you can't help with the troops…" he trailed off as he looked around and sighed. "Try to find something you think might hurt that thing."

* * *

Across the ocean, more weapons were being readied against the beast. But these were Venyoran weapons, weapons of magic, spirit and faith. The Nocturne watched blindly as the spirt sorceresses moved through the chamber, drawing sigils and lighting incense for the Great Casting.

It was a ritual that Venyore had not brought to bear in decades, and then, only to repair its despoiled forests in the wake of a great war. The Great Casting had always been a force for peace and restoring order. But the magic was ancient and powerful, and could be harnessed by any assembly of sorceresses for nearly any cause. Venyore was a nation that believed in the strength of the many, and the awesome power of the Casting was the greatest symbol of that.

Still, Naphar was aware of the quiet whispers of discontent from the sorceresses.

"This is a perversion of the rites!" one whispered vehemently.

Another murmured, "Can even the casting harm this creature, this god?"

Naphar came along side her and spoke quietly. "It is written: even a titan can be felled by enough ants. Keep faith."

She nodded quietly, and the Nocturne returned to his spot along the wall.

Soon, the Empress made her way along side him.

"Did you scry for the target, Empress?"

A frown marred her face for a moment. "I located it easily, but I am not tracking it. I… do not wish to see it any longer than I have to."

Naphar nodded silently. After a few moments, he said, "I think I have a sense of what you felt. It's been gnawing at the back of my own mind as well. Do you think the sorceresses are ready for it? The full force of this… fear… will likely be incredible."

"They will hold," she replied. "So long as the creature remains ignorant of our actions until the last possible moment."

"You think it could strike us even here? Across the ocean?"

She didn't answer.

Naphar watched Pacias in silence, concern crowding his mind. She was stronger than she seemed, he knew, and he did not doubt her courage. But with the power of the enemy they were facing, it was likely there was no safe place for her. Or for any of them.

* * *

The battle outside the palace raged. The holy guardsmen struggled against the overwhelming force of Fallacian's army, but they were losing ground. Already, Fallacian's personal entourage had reached the doors of the throne chamber. A half dozen of the remaining guards stood behind the door, weapons at the ready, as they heard the warlord's powerful strikes thundering against the reinforced door. It would not hold indefinitely.

Bakura, the so-called politician king who had been appointed to rule in Seto's stead, sat nervously on the throne. The guards had ushered him into this chamber, the most defensible in the palace, when the attack hit. But outside the tall windows, through the wrought iron, he could see the form of the Forbidden One trudging south. Behind him, a sunset of flame and darkness tore through Sandalphon and seemed to sap the sky of its light. The earth shook with each movement, and yet amongst the rubble of Cobalt's core, the soldiers kept fighting as though the battle still meant something.

The king couldn't understand it. He was in nearly mad panic himself, gripping and releasing the arms of his throne as he watched that titanic form. For Fallacian, the fear must've been real. But for Fallacian, perhaps the only force driving him more than fear was a relentless ambition. Perhaps Fallacian had completely lost himself to his quest to be king. For all Bakura cared he could have the crown, but he would not die here.

The barricade shattered, the doors blew open, and the battle afterwards barely lasted the blink of an eye. The guardsmen leapt to the fray, striking down Fallacian's personal guards, but the armoured form of the warlord tore the guardsmen apart. He left their broken forms on the ground, and, causing rumbles of his own, strode toward the king.

Bakura leapt off his frown, eying Fallacian with a mixture of fear and hatred. "You want the throne? Take it, you madman!" he cried, and bolted for the door.

Fallacian moved to block the fleeing king, grabbing his shoulder and throwing him forcefully against the wall. The force knocked Bakura breathless, but he quickly regained his footing and started fleeing again. Fallacian's battle axe brushed by his head, striking between the two doors and driving them forcefully shut.

His hands pulled on the handle of the weapon, but the king couldn't budge it. He turned slowly, in time to see not only Fallcian, armour grinding and greatsword readied as he charged, but the form of the Forbidden One. The creature had torn the defensive wall of Cobalt asunder and was delighting in tearing the city apart. A swath of destruction behind it, it was advancing heedlessly toward the palace.

"What do you want?" he screamed.

"Justice," Fallacian hissed, "for all the lives that were lost to end your tyranny!"

"I've only been king for a few days! I've done nothing!"

Fallacian's sword punctured the king. He hadn't even been listening. "Justice," he repeated, and cleaved the king in two. With a clatter, Fallacian's greatsword fell to the ground and he turned to approach the throne. In that moment, the fate generation matrix truly had him. Outside, his men were not dying. The Forbidden One was not advancing, the world was not in ruins. Destiny was being achieved.

He touched the stone reverently. Slowly he turned, and took his rightful place.

And with a shouted order and a flash of force, the Forbidden One eradicated Cobalt.

A/N: So, first, I'll get what I think the most obvious question is out of the way: yes, the story is done. I won't say how many chapters there are, but I play to post one roughly once a week until the story is finished. So, know that that is happening.

As to the delay, well, that was due to so many things. I had to get an engineering degree, and if you've never done that, just know that it's pretty time consuming. Also, I was pretty unhappy with the spot I had left myself at the end of this chapter. There are so many loose ends in this story that I know I've missed some, but I have an ending I'm happy with. I rewrote the last few chapters a number of times, often from scratch. I went through some revisions that very much felt like they were only intended to just get it over with. I did not post those, tempting as it was. If it weren't for all the rewrites necessary, this would have been done ages ago. And so for the delay, I can truly say, I am sorry. And to all those who hassled me to post an ending, as unlikely as it seemed...

Thanks.

Expect another chapter within the week.


	34. The Dragon Returns

A/N: I've noticed that my paragraph breaks for my previous chapters are broken. FFnet decided to remove any line of several dashes, which is weird to me. Anyway, I'm not gonna have a chance to fix that, so, apologies. Actual thoughts on this chapter: I rewrote this one a number of times. I like where it is now, it brings us nicely into the climax of the story and sets up where the characters are, personally, in what I imagine would be a somewhat jarring experience. Enjoy.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own it.

**Chapter Thirty-Four: The Dragon Returns**

Starke marshalled the gathered militia into the canyon. It was not ideal, but if he left them on the plain they'd catch a glimpse of the Forbidden One too soon, and he could not risk the consequences of that. Damien stood on a stone nearby, directing the makeshift army. Above, Yugi and Serenity sat on the edge of the precipice, eyes turned toward the bloody sky in the north.

"I don't know if we can hurt this thing," Yugi admitted.

Serenity nodded slightly. Her brow creased subtly, but Yugi detected the motion.

"I'm sorry," he said, placing his hand on her shoulder. "I'm sure he's fighting it. I can't see anything beating him."

The girl forced a meek smile and a nod.

Yugi said, "I don't know what Kaiba has planned. In Duel Monsters, an assembled Exodia is impossible to defeat. But Kaiba wouldn't send us up against an enemy we couldn't beat."

Serenity nodded slightly, slumping as she sat. Yugi's words ate at her, and the knot in her stomach grew tighter.

An awkward silence passed between them, until Yugi muttered, "Something's on the horizon."

Serenity squinted. The shape was humanoid, but the bright sky behind it made it impossible to see how far off it was. Its shadow stretched out beneath it, painted long across the rough ground. "Not it," Serenity said at last.

"How do you know?"

"I know because my spine's not cold."

Yugi leaned closer. Now, he could see that the shoulders weren't broad enough, the frame was thin and humanoid. Its gait was irregular, heavily favouring one side and flecks of light shone through its clothes, lighting the ground inside that shadow. "I think it's Seto!" he gasped.

Bolting upright, Serenity looked closer. "Oh my god…"

The prince staggered forward. His tattered and burnt cape covered his left arm, and he limped visibly. Dust covered his haggard face, but he moved as quickly as his limp would allow.

Serenity began climbing down the rocks immediately, and Yugi followed without hesitation. Reaching the group, the pair ran toward Seto. The prince reached out, placed a hand on Serenity's shoulder, and then pushed her aside. Walking toward the canyon, he grunted, "Save the pleasantries."

The pair stood confused for a moment, then fell into step behind the prince. "Did you learn anything useful?" Yugi probed.

Seto turned, staring at Yugi with dark eyes. Slowly, his gaze drifted to Serenity. "Much."

The girl paused. The hostility in his eyes was obvious, but she couldn't understand why. A nagging fear rose in the back of her mind, but she shouldered through it. "What happened?" she asked.

"It killed me," he answered simply. "And he sent me back."

"He?" Yugi balked. "He who?"

The prince turned, eyes meaningfully narrowed. "Kaiba. Your Kaiba. The very same person you mistook me for when we met. Omnus Genesis, according to him."

The two stood in silence. Seto jerked his shoulder, throwing his cape back. Doing so revealed his arm – burnt, useless, and flickering in and out of existence. One moment it would be there, real and vivid. The next, there would be a small red box, and black text reading 'pseto_larm.x' in its place. "I died," he growled, "and now I'm falling apart. Soon I won't be a part of this little game of yours at all. But before I go I'm taking that son of a bitch Remiel and his God-toy with me. Now get out of my way and don't touch me, unless you want your game ending abruptly."

The small girl blinked at him. Her emotions welled inside her, but she pushed them down. "You're dying?"

He eyed her venomously. "Sorry to deprive you of your fun." His tone was deathly cold, and the poison in his words ran through her and turned her pale.

She protested, "I never meant-"

"Save your breath," he snarled.

Serenity bit back tears. "You jerk," she whispered. She stormed past him toward the encampment.

"So you were 'sent back' just for revenge, is that it?" Yugi pressed. "And it never occurred to you to come back for the girl in love with you?"

The Prince peered at Yugi. "That girl has said nothing to me but lies. I was created to be nothing but the pinnacle of suffering, some paragon of self-pity for an idiot with a god complex to project his insecurities onto. But now I've scratched and clawed my way into reality just in time to have it stolen from me." His voice grew louder and he stepped toward the smaller man. "My history may be a lie, my emotions may have been manipulated, my strength and accomplishments may be the result of nothing more than numbers in a game, but nothing, you hear me, _nothing_ will keep these last moments of my existence from being _mine!_"

Yugi didn't back down. "If they're just yours, then they're meaningless."

"Look around, Yugi. All of this is meaningless."

* * *

In the rubble of Cobalt, the Forbidden One shifted and began to move. There was no one let alive in the city, and though most of it had been evacuated due to the battle prior, Remiel still found it hard to contain his satisfaction. The termination of the invalid that was Kaiba was still in progress, but to have removed this most grievous of blights upon the landscape was a potent first step.

Ashes from the Royal Castle slid through the Forbidden One's fingers, and it hulked its way out of the city limits. There were many more cities in the area, but both Remiel and the Ui could sense the gathering swarm to the south. The cities could wait. The people were the real target.

"This," Remiel murmured, "This is what all the sacrifices have been for. Finally, we shall bring it all to an end."

* * *

"You're setting these men up to be slaughtered," Seto said matter-of-factly as he approached Starke.

Damien glanced up from where he and the mercenary had been planning. His eyes widened at the haggard form of the Dragon Prince. "Seto?"

Starke looked between the two and said, "The dragon prince?"

"You can't fight the Forbidden One in this canyon. Its fists are powerful, but its real weapon is a beam attack. It'll tear your men to shreds in a single strike," Seto explained.

Starke kicked through the battle plans they had drawn out in the sand. "We cannot even take cover against it? Then what hope do we have?"

"None," Seto answered.

Damien stepped forward at that. "Prince, you can't mean that."

Yugi stepped up behind Seto. "It has to have a weakness," he agreed.

"No," Starke said quietly. "I've seen it..."

"As have I," Seto said.

"As have we all," Damien interjected. "Look, I know it's frightening, but that doesn't mean it's invincible."

"I blasted it with a blue-eyes," Seto replied, "And it healed itself instantly. Can any of you outdo that?"

"So what would you have us do?"

Seto glanced around at the men in the canyon disdainfully. "Take these... soldiers... and go south. If you head through Solitage and to the coast, you might live a day or two before the Forbidden One tears you all apart."

Damien stared at the prince in shock. "Coward," he spat.

"Coward? No, not me," Seto answered levelly. "I'll stay and fight. I have an edge against that thing, and I mean to use it."

"Then let us help!" Yugi insisted.

The prince looked between him and Damien. "If you want to stay, I can't stop you. If you don't want to die like a dog, go south."

* * *

Damien was busy trying to keep Starke from taking his men and leaving when Yugi and Serenity approached the Dragon Prince on the ridge. "If you want to win this fight, you can't just throw your allies away," Yugi warned.

"Allies? Meaningless automatons. Live or die, I don't care, I just don't want them getting in my way" The prince shifted his weight and watched the horizon as the sun dipped low.

Yugi stood up and walked toward the edge. "It's just as easy to trust them as not. Even if it is a game, you have to put your heart in it if you want to win. So why not believe in them?" Yugi watched the prince for a moment and sighed. He turned and headed back toward the militia in the pass.

Seto peered after Yugi. "If we're all just toys, then we don't want your patronization." He glanced at Serenity. "Either of you."

Serenity glared at Seto. She knew he was choosing his tone and language to cut as much as possible, and the alienation she felt from his emanating self-pity was palpable. She could cut just as deep. "You seemed perfectly happy with it when you didn't know," she said, and stormed off after Yugi.

Beneath the warm light of the setting sun, Seto watched them go with a mixture of frustration and envy. His mind was working through the depth of their betrayal, but he knew his obligation was to win the fight at hand. He would not have a chance for vengeance, nor, was he sure, would he take such an opportunity. But the sting of betrayal ran deep, particularly given the uncharacteristic openness he had given to Serenity. He had let her in, but she had been treacherous.

The envy, of course, sprang from his more pressing problem. He was dying, and faced with his death, he found himself helpless to change it. No matter what he did, the truth was, they would leave this game and he would not. The greatest betrayal was not the deception, it was that she had known she would be leaving him all along.

* * *

Those gathered in the canyon felt the being coming before they saw it. First, it was a soft rumble in the ground. Then, it was a growing sense of dread. Damien and Sagaelen had convinced the mercenary to keep his soldiers at the pass until they could come up with a plan, but the fear had already begun to creep through the militia.

Yugi caught up with Starke in the pass. The mercenary covered his eyes and rubbed his temples. "The time for planning is over. We have to fall back. We must move everyone! This is a disaster… hopeless…"

The short duelist had to admit Starke had a point. "Get everyone to the other end of the canyon and on to the open plain," he said. "You have to stay spread out so its beam attacks are less effective."

Slowly, Starke shook his head. "It's hopeless, we've spent all our energy on siege weapons to harm it, and they're too big to move… And it's close… I can feel it."

Yugi grabbed Starke by the shoulders and lifted him from his seat. "Starke, we'll man the siege weapons and buy your retreat some time. Go!"

"But…"

"_Now_!"

A moment passed, and then Starke nodded. "Alright. I'm sorry, I feel…"

"I understand. It's that thing's power."

"Alright," Starke repeated. Turning abruptly, he strode to an elevated rock. "Everyone! We're making a tactical withdrawal to the other end of the canyon. No questions, just _move_. The newcomers will be using our weapons to cover our withdrawal, so step on it!"

Damien looked over to Yugi. "Where do you want us?"

Yugi shook his head. "You and Sagaelen should help the others get to the far side of the pass. Serenity, the Prince and I will cover the retreat."

"What?" Damien balked. "No way, we're with you."

Yugi closed the distance to Damien. "Look, between us, I don't think Starke can handle that monster's power. I need you two to fall back with him, or else the retreat might break ranks and fail."

Damien narrowed his eyes. "You've been spending a lot of time alone with the prince and Serenity since he got back. Is there something we should know?"

"It's… it's nothing you can help with."

The thunderous steps of the Forbidden One echoed from the north. "This conversation isn't done," Damien replied, and turned to help the others southward.

At the mouth of the canyon, Serenity called over to Seto. "Prince! We need you back here, we're staging a defense."

The prince stared north, ignoring her.

Serenity gritted her jaw. Enough of this. She stormed over to him and grabbed him by the right shoulder. "Hey, if you want to sit here, sulk, die, whatever, just go ahead and do it. You've closed your eyes, and your mind, and you're not even trying to imagine what it was like for me. You're just drowning in self-pity, and it's pathetic."

He turned his head back in her direction. "How sad that my existence no longer entertains you."

Serenity's fingers clenched as she tried not to tear up. "Just go… ugh! Forget you. You've decided you want to hurt me, and you have, so you win. Now go back to ignoring me, but at least help us."

He nodded slowly. "You're trying to buy the automata some time to retreat? Fine. I'm going to destroy that thing, might as well use the rest of the tools in this game against it."

She sighed. "Fine," she said, "Now help."

The prince walked toward the canyon again, and Serenity watched him go for a moment. He looked battered and beaten, limping as he walked, and in spite of herself, her mood softened.

"Seto," she called. "I never—"

"I don't care," he interrupted, and kept walking.

* * *

Most of the militia were away down the canyon when Exodia crested the ridge and began to walk down toward the canyon. Behind a set of catapults, ballistae and looted cannon, Seto, Yugi, Serenity and a few of Serenity's summoned monsters sat ready to buy their allies some time.

The ground shook with each step of the beast, body hunched and chained hands hanging near the ground. Beside one of the decorative frills, Remiel stood holding tight to the beast and watching its path. He looked like a small, hairy bump on the beast's titanic shoulder, but the words he whispered to that monster were what kept it driven forward.

"Serenity," Yugi called across the canyon.

The girl looked over at him.

"Don't be afraid," he said. "We can do this."

"It's not… not a normal fear…"

"I know," Yugi replied. "But you're brave, okay? We can do this."

She nodded slightly, and slid out onto the ledge with her ballista. Yugi followed suit, slinking closer to his catapult to prepare to fire on the beast. It drew closer, moment by agonizing moment, and at last it was within range.

"Serenity, Seto, now!"

"Attack!" Serenity echoed.

All at once, the weapons fired at the beast. Stone, cannonball steel and wood-hewn arrows ripped through the air in unison, pelting the beast as one. Serenity's ballista bolt penetrated the beast's shoulder, and the stone and steel beat hard into its chest. For a moment, Ui staggered back, bellowing in anger.

And then it retaliated.

With a rush of energy, the beast let a beam tear into the canyon wall. Seto dove into the canyon to avoid the blast, landing with a grunt in the center of the gap. The summoned monsters were not so lucky. The beam eradicated the beasts and half the siege weapons, narrowly missing Yugi on a higher ridge, but nevertheless sending him tumbling into the wreckage as the wrath of Exodia flattened the ridge beneath him. Much of the canyon collapsed into itself as the sudden annihilation of the stone and the shuddering force of the blast left little standing.

On the other side, Serenity could only stare, dumbfounded, as Exodia slowly turned its dark eyes to her. Yugi pulled himself above the stone rubble and immediately saw the line of the monster's sight.

"No!" he cried out.

Exodia's attention snapped back to the boy, and his hands charged another beam. Yugi tried to move from the monster's path, but the rubble still held him, and he found he could barely move. The beam fired, roaring with power as it streaked toward him. But the prince leapt between Yugi and the beam, and extended his flickering, glitched arm. The beam struck it—

And disappeared.

"That's a spell," Seto rasped, "and can't touch a broken piece like me. Take Serenity and get her out of here."

"We should stay and help!"

"You're a liability, Yugi! I won't be forced to protect the two of you."

The pair were interrupted from the top of the canyon wall. "Seto, no! We're not sacrificing you again. If you're gonna make a stand here, we'll fight too. I'm not leaving again. You don't have to protect us, but please, let us fight!"

Exodia's eyes turned to Serenity, and Remiel's voice echoed into the gap. "Then fight, children. Fight and die. Exodia, obliterate her."

Seto bolted for the canyon wall, leaping and scrambling to reach the girl in time. But with his leg injured and slowed, he was not nearly fast enough. Exodia drew its hands back to wipe the girl from existence.

Pulling another bolt from the stack, Serenity obstinately armed her ballista again. "I said no!" she screamed at Remiel.

Glowing, golden shackles formed around the monster's hands and feet, almost as if in response to her cry. It stopped in its tracks, eyes wide, and stared at Serenity. The girl herself seemed just as dumbstruck.

"What have you done?" bellowed Remiel.

"I…"

Exodia's head thrashed, and it turned its eyes westward. Remiel snarled in recognition. "Not you… the Venyorans!"

"Serenity!" Seto called, "Take the shot! Stop Remiel!"

Snapped from her reverie, Serenity nodded curtly and aimed her ballista. The deiprelate's eyes widened. "Exodia, stop her, we're not done here ye—"

His words were cut short as the giant bolt penetrated his chest. The force of the huge arrow cut through him, sending his body falling far from the shoulder of the beast and thudding limply to the ground behind the monster. Seto sighed relief, and crawled atop the canyon wall, approaching Serenity while not taking his eyes of the monster.

Ui snarled and tore against his restraints. Its thick muscles bulged and strained, but the light held fast. The ground cracked and crumpled beneath its feet, and the very air burned with its energy. Bestial roars split the air once and again as the chained god voiced its wrath. Far from placated by the death of his master, he seemed frenzied.

"Was that a good decision?" Serenity asked.

The sound of energy crackling almost stifled Seto's reply. "I don't know."

"Serenity, Prince!" Yugi called out. "We should call the others back! This could be our best chance to destroy it!"

The pair on the cliff stared mutely at the monster, deaf to Yugi's cries. Its shackles seemed to crack and splinter under its movements, and neither of them dared to hope they would hold it indefinitely.

"Seto! We have to fight it now!"

Finally, the prince nodded. Drawing his sword, he limped to edge. But they had delayed too long. With a great roar of fury, Exodia broke free of its shackles. Its right fist ripped towards the prince, who could barely level his blade to attempt to block. The impact sent him reeling backward, bouncing him over the hard stone until he finally came to rest, prone, some distance away. With that immediate threat eliminated, the monster turned its eyes westward once more and began to fire a thunderous volley of beams across the ocean at its unseen tormentors.

"No!" the prince wailed.

Yugi tensed in frustration at the opportunity missed; quickly reassessing the situation, he took command. "Serenity, Seto, we need to fall back now. We can't fight it here without a plan. If it's distracted, we should move now."

"We have to stop it!" Seto frothed. "The Empress, the Venyorans—"

"We can't fight it without a plan!"

"They will die!"

"They aren't real!"

Seto stopped at that, and Yugi's words slammed deep into his chest. A tense, silent moment passed between the two, and Seto's anger and emotions welled up again before he finally suppressed them with his acquiescence. "Fall back."

A pang of guilt washed over Yugi, but he was convinced winning this game was dependant on a few sacrifices, however difficult he found them. And he knew Kaiba wouldn't have interfered in the game unless the stakes were higher than any of them realized.

The activity of his other self in the back of his mind assured him he was right.

Reluctantly, the trio fell back as Exodia rained destruction upon the lands of Venyore from afar.

"We are all doomed," Starke said. "If it can destroy an entire nation from across an ocean, what's to stop it from wiping us out without ever passing through Yugi's Pass?"

"I am," Seto growled.

The ex-mercenary rolled his eyes in response, but Yugi interjected. "The prince can interrupt its energy beams. It's not a sure thing, but I think it will try to take him out first, physically. So as long as we have the prince, we have a chance."

"Interrupt its beams? Where'd you get that toy, Seto?" Damien asked.

"It's a long story," Serenity replied. "We don't have time."

"What we need to do is devise a tactic for victory," Sagaelen suggested, "if we're going to have any chance at all."

"Agreed," Starke said at last. He sat down at the table and picked up a long thin stick, drawing a diagram of the southern entrance to the pass in the sand. "We have our men split into three companies and fanned out around the opening. Each company is spread out fairly evenly, so if our estimation of beam size is correct, no one attack should affect more than twenty units. Even so, since we'll need to get close that leaves us at most eight unblocked blasts before we're forced to withdraw."

"Do we have a fallback point?" Damien inquired.

Starke nodded. "The Duchy of Solitage is our fallback point. They'll be able to reinforce us. They have a defensible castle but to be honest, I don't think it would be of much use."

"Weapons?" Yugi asked.

Starke said, "Well, you've seen what they have. About half have crossbows, guns or bows. The rest have only polearms or close melee weapons."

"They'll get slaughtered," Seto scoffed.

"Not if we can devise an effective plan," Serenity insisted. "Sagaelen, have you come up with anything?"

"Me? Good heavens, I didn't know I was even supposed to be—"

"If you were relying on that idiot to come up with your scheme, you're even more hopeless than I thought," Seto spat.

Sagaelen frowned for a moment and then snatched the stick from Starke. "If what Yugi and Serenity tell us is true, then the creature can be damaged, but it repairs itself startlingly quickly. However, if we focus enough damage on a single area, shouldn't it be possible to inflict damage faster than it can repair itself?"

The Countess tended quietly to Seto's injured leg, setting it in the hopes that it would repair itself, since it would not to respond to her medicines.

Seto nodded curtly to her once she finished, and then turned back to the assembly. "We don't have the weapons to deal it that kind of damage. And if we did, then what? Keep damaging it indefinitely? That's a short term tactic, it's not a strategy."

Damien stood to his feet. "Well if you're so damn sure of yourself, why don't you take it on one-on-one?"

Yugi interrupted, "Calm down. He's a jerk, but he's right, we can't beat it that way."

The group fell quiet. Seto scratched his injured leg for a moment while Sagaelen poked at the sand. "What about summons?" he said, finally.

"Hm?" Serenity perked up.

"Well, legend has it that Kaiba slew Ra with a Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, right? So logically we could be able to do it again." Sagaelen offered.

"Except that we don't have three Blue-Eyes."

"But we have a range of other monsters," Sagaelen insisted. "It's better than nothing!"

Yugi leaned close to Serenity. "What monsters do you have?"

Serenity pulled out her cards. "Not much… Seto has all the powerful monsters."

The prince tossed his deck to her. "I can't use them anymore. Any of them. Same thing that caused the spell interruption prevents me from using spells or monsters."

She sighed softly as she fingered through his cards, pausing on Mokuba's silver card. "I'm not powerful enough to summon most of these."

"But it's something," Damien said. "We don't have much else."

The dull plodding steps of the Forbidden One started to get louder. "Sagaelen," Serenity said, "Can you analyze what we know of it… and maybe the fight itself and try to come up with a way to really hurt it?"

"Will do!" he chirped.

"Excuse me," a voice cut in. A figure stood not far from the meeting. He wore light armor and the telltale gold of a blackguard. Raguel looked between them, "I might be of some use."

Damien stepped toward him. "Blackguard! Where did you come from?"

Raguel met Damien's gaze wearily, "I was with the men who arrived from Cobalt, before the city was destroyed. I'm not your enemy."

"This is your monster," Damien snapped.

"I never wanted this. This was the deiprelate's fever dream."

"What do you know?" Yugi interjected.

"The Forbidden One was never meant to be summoned by man, but only by the Creator when the time had come," Raguel said slowly, working through what he recalled from the story walls in Sandalphon. "I'd bet the summoning is imperfect. It was in parts, correct? That may be a weakness."

Exodia Necross came to mind, Yugi thought. That version of Exodia could be attacked by removing pieces from the player's graveyard, and it was Kaiba who had shown him that. It's the sort of weakness Kaiba would have programmed.

Raguel continued, "The beast itself is aligned with the dark element. That is a weakness you might exploit."

"It's not just the destroyer," Damien said. "The prelates are part of it. Oa, they called themselves, the ruler."

Yugi spoke evenly, "That's probably where the healing factor comes from."

It was the sage who interrupted the discussion. "The monster is coming. I'll keep working on a strategy."

Starke stood and glanced about grimly. "I have to go make sure the militia doesn't break rank. Here's to the last hurrah…"

The leather of Damien's boot creaked against the dirt and he walked out toward the pass. "Here goes," he agreed.

* * *

A loud scraping noise filled the air as Exodia's hands dragged along the upper edge of the cliffs; its thunderous footsteps rocked the ground as if it might shatter the world apart. Its head was hunkered down, its eyes filled with rage at the death of its master and the continued flight of its prey.

One company of militia stood on either side of the opening, prepared for when the beast emerged from the gorge. At the head of one were Yugi and Serenity, with the full arsenal of Serenity's summoned monsters at their sides. At the head of the other, Damien and Starke stood with weapons ready.

At the head of the final company, the battered Prince of Kaiba stood, cape draped over his broken arm, leg still injured but set, looking like he was held together by the armour he wore and otherwise would disintegrate completely. This was the company toward which Exodia was stalking, eager for the taste of their destruction. They were the bait, and the prince himself was the hook.

"Stay calm," Yugi called out to the assembled soldiers.

"Now's our chance," Damien replied.

Starke clenched his fist as he began to feel the terror before he even saw the beast. "For Kaiba, men! We will be legends!"

Serenity yelled out, "Sagaelen, countess, all non-combatants, go west to Solitage and take cover there. We'll send you our wounded."

The sage ran over one last time. "The joints," he urged. "If you can overcome its healing and exploit that it's not one piece, you may be able to break it apart." The girl nodded, and the sage headed west with the others.

Seto stared coldly at the approaching God monster. He had nothing to say to the automata around him. Those who were real, Serenity, Yugi, they knew why they had to win this fight. The prince knew his reasons as well. All that was left was to fight.

The Fear had arrived.

* * *

A/N: So that brings us through that. As is always the case, I thoroughly appreciate any reviews I receive. I've tried to keep the writing style consistent with what it was 6 years ago, but obviously that can be challenging at times. Let me know what you thought!


	35. Of Ends Unremembered

A/N: Getting close to the end here. This is the second last chapter, so yes, I do have a plan to wrap things up. This is a chapter that was rewritten from scratch several times. I did not send the most recent copy off to my beta, so I ask you to please excuse the few small typos which snuck past my proofreading.

**Disclaimer:** The following is a non-profit fan-based parody. Yu-Gi-Oh!, Yu-Gi-Oh! GX and Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds are all property of Kazuki Takahashi. Please support the official release.

**Chapter Thirty-Five: Of Ends Unremembered**

Atop a dais in the center of the casting chamber, the Empress of Venyore acted as a conduit for the might of her mages. Her hands clenched, and she held the Forbidden One in place. It strained against her, but the magic flowed into her and she was an army unto herself. Her body shook and strained, waves of magical energy bursting off her as the god struggled to free itself, but the Empress of Venyore did not let go.

Pacias channeled the energy urgently, singing her part in the melody of the sorceresses. The song flowed through the halls of the palace, unmistakable. In stone silence, the people of Venyore waited, their spirits with their Empress as she fought. Naphar's boot thudded across the stone floor, pacing as he listened to the highs and lows of the battle song.

The Empress strained against the god's force, and its wails of fury echoed even from across the sea. The ground trembled, and waves beat hard on the shore. The skies darkened. The winds howled. Oa, the ruler, was furious, and was making his rage known.

At last, she could hold him back no more. Her body was blasted back as it broke free, nearly casting her off the dais. "Remiel is dead," she called to her spirit sorceresses. "The beast now turns its eye to us. Sing the hymn of the white barrier!"

Naphar tilted his head as the song changed, and his gut churned. That was a defensive spell. They were about to be hit.

The Empress extended her arms, the magic flowing through her as she shaped the defensive barrier. Her sight extended beyond the castle as Venyore itself gave her its eyes. She could see every leaf in the forest, every wave on the beaches. She could see the world as Oa tried to shake it apart at its seams. She could see the Forbidden One's attack.

She could stop it.

Channeling all the energy flowing through her, she knocked the first beam aside, sending it burning through the waves to the north. Another came and she threw it south, and the next, up into the sky. Her spirit sorceresses raised their voices, and the beams of the Forbidden One hammered down.

Blow by blow, she blocked the Forbidden One's assault. But every parry was costly, and she knew her spirit sorceresses could not hold out for long. One beam burned along the coast, turning a stretch of beach twenty kilometers long to glass under its intense heat. The next was not even parried that far, and it tore through a stretch of open plain, cracking the earth apart.

Soon, it was all the Empress could do to protect the palace itself. Beams of energy ripped through villages and toppled mountains. They set Venyore's expansive forests ablaze and hammered her hills into dust. The land cried out in agony, and every wound weakened the Great Casting.

Finally, the Empress began to see that this was truly a last stand. The Forbidden One's power was endless. Its terror consumed her, and her strength failed her. Falling to a knee, she raised her hands to defend herself and the beam tore through, streaking through the palace with an ear-shattering roar.

Its base blown apart, a great spire collapsed down into the palace, tearing through floor after floor. The next beam hit the palace from the west and erupted, sending ancient stone through tearing through walls and structures. Venyorans fled with shrieks of terror, but the ground beneath them failed, swallowing up the survivors as the building collapsed into its own foundations, torn asunder by the unrivaled might of the Forbidden One. When the last tower had fallen, the beams finally stopped.

For a long while, there was only the thick dust and the deathly silence. Then, a black hand emerged from within the rubble. Aching with every motion, Naphar pulled himself from the wreckage. He was greeted with the sight of complete annihilation. Hardly two bricks remained atop each other in the ruin of the once great palace.

His chest tightened as he saw the steaming ruin of the casting chamber. His nocturne vision saw life beneath all the stone, but it was fading fast. He crossed the distance as swiftly as he could and began to dig. Pulling stone from stone, he watched as the lifelight faded. When he pulled the last stone away, most of the spirit sorceresses were dead.

They had thrown themselves atop their Empress as the chamber collapsed, he realized. Their bodies were a protective barrier from the debris, and he could see her light beneath the bodies. He pushed the bodies away as respectfully as possible, until at last the Empress's hand reached out and clasped his arm.

"Empress," he breathed, and a shudder passed through his body. "We failed..."

"Not... yet," she hissed. "With the last of the barrier, I protected... the _Amplexus_... you must take me... take me to Kaiba, Naphar..."

"You're hurt, my lady, you won't survive-"

"No, won't survive... cannot survive. But the _dragon_ is in me, Naphar... I feel the dragon... in me..."

She passed in his arms, and he lifted her soft frame from the rubble. From here, he could see where the refining chamber would be. But even though duty compelled him to obey, he set her down and returned to digging in the rubble. There was one lifelight left in the ruin of the chamber. Pacias.

His muscles were screaming with each motion by the time he found her, as broken as the chamber around her. His voice caught in his throat, and she looked up at him with a soft whimper of pain. "Na...phar..."

"I am here," he murmurred. He tried to pull her free, but her shriek of pain told him it was impossible.

"Help... the empress..."

He sobbed at that and clutched at her. "No. I'll stay with you."

"Dumb," she muttered. The light was fading from her. More and more, Naphar's vision couldn't tell her from the lifeless debris around her. "I can't... stay..."

His tears fell on her soft face as at last, his nocturne vision saw no life. She shifted from a living girl, full of spirit, into a nondescript lump like the rocks around her. Naphar couldn't bear to watch her go.

When she had finally faded, Naphar reached up and pulled his blindfold off. It was heresy, he understood, but in the face of the utter failure of his beliefs to stop the eradication of his nation, there was no reason to keep it on. He blinked back the light, and when his eyes finally came into focus, he saw Pacias for the first time.

His sobs softly echoed through the chamber.

* * *

"_Hold!_" Starke cried over the roar of battle. "Pikemen! Ready!"

The Forbidden One's right hand swept through a charging line of soldiers, tossing bodies into the air like ragdolls. A single soldier managed to drive his pike into the beast's hand as it swept by, driving it deep enough to hold on as Exodia lifted it. The god tilted his head at the little creature, eying it curiously, then closed his hand and crushed him.

The soldiers rushed at his legs. "Right leg!" Starke bellowed. "Focus on the right leg!"

The Forbidden One stomped at the gnats, but they dodged back and then rushed again. Every little movement of his foot sent debris into the air, but the soldiers dodged and charged, stabbing vigorously. The cuts were deep, and for a moment, Exodia stumbled to a knee. The ground shook with the fall, and the beast's fist followed, plowing into a squad of soldiers and leaving nothing but crumpled steel against stone. With a snarl, Exodia prepared to fire off another blast.

"Yugi!" Damien called from the fray, "Distraction!"

"Right!" the little mage replied. His hand drew back and he conjured a sleek spear of ice, taking aim at the beasts right eye and firing. The bolt hissed through the air and found a home in the pulpy eye-flesh, and the Forbidden One howled in pain. The shot had the desired effect. Forgetting the soldiers at its feet completely, Exodia fired the full force of its blast at Yugi.

But Seto was there. From beneath his tattered cloak extended his broken arm. The beam struck it dead on, and the world stood still for a moment before the beam dissipated. Yugi blinked in surprise and glanced around. No one else seemed to have noticed, but Yugi had played enough computer games to recognize lag when he saw it.

"I'm becoming less stable," Seto said as he walked over toward the short duelist.

"Is that a good sign or a bad one?"

The prince honestly didn't know.

Serenity saw their left flank failing and acted quickly. She conjured a Destroyer Golem and sent it rushing in. The monster threw its weight against a punch from the Forbidden One, stopping it dead. "Regroup, now!" Serenity yelled at the shocked soldiers, who quickly rushed toward her.

"Archers!" she heard Starke yell as the Forbidden One opened its hand and crushed her golem. The creature had no chance to struggle before it was rubble. Almost as an afterthought, Ui hurled the stones at the soldiers. The rocks disappeared in the air as the next volley of arrows hissed by and tore into forbidden flesh.

Serenity ran toward Yugi and Seto. "It's not working! We've focused everything on that leg, but it's not enough."

The prince paced, despite his wounded leg. His eyes stayed locked on the Forbidden One, trying to predict the next energy attack. He was their only countermeasure to that, and he had to stay far from the fray to be ready to intercept.

It was Yugi who replied to Serenity. "We're losing soldiers fast. Those that aren't dying are fleeing. We can't keep this up."

At the head of a squad, Damien rushed the beast. "Draw it!" he shouted to them, and they responded with a wave of javelins that struck the right leg. Exodia wheeled and threw its fist, but Damien was too fast. His men scattered to the sides, dodging debris as Damien lept onto the arm. Rushing up it, he slashed deep cuts into the muscular flesh. He leapt from the arm to the monster's chest, his rapier digging in and holding him aloft. Exodia moved to slap the rogue away, but he wasn't there anymore. All his momentum behind him, the rogue tossed himself to the far shoulder. He found his feet immediately and rushed for the eyes. But the beast recognized the tactic this time and snapped its head forward, unbalancing Damien and throwing him back.

Serenity's Kagemusha snatched Damien from the air just as Exodia's hand rushed by, crushing against stone where Damien had been an instant earlier. The beast bellowed its frustration. The ground creaked and crumbled as its feet dug in and its body snapped forward into a mad rush.

"Battle Ox!" Serenity shouted, summoning the beast in the direct line of the Forbidden One's rush. The soldiers stabbed frantically at its legs, dodging debris and trying to slow the creature. The ox swung its axe deep into godflesh even as it was crushed in the wave of stone and shale at the monster's feet. Finally, it stumbled, its massive body plummeting to the stone. It landed with a crack that split air and stone alike. A wave of stone erupted from the fall, drowning soldiers in the shrapnel tide.

Yugi was tossed clear of the debris, landing near the small ridge to which Serenity's Kagemusha had spirited her and Damien.

Seto wasn't so lucky, and the wave threw him hard onto an already failing leg. A sickening crack shot from the joint, drowned out by Seto's sharp cry of agony.

The black gloved hand offered to the prince came from Raguel, but he ignored it. He pressed himself to his feet, stumbling once. Only once he had stood did he see that Exodia had made it to its knees, and was preparing to fire a beam right at Serenity and Yugi. He rushed forward, but his leg failed and he dropped into the dust. This time he did accept the blackguard's hand. "To those three, hurry!" Even as he said it, he knew he'd never make it in time.

Serenity froze, the hateful glare of the Forbidden One so large and so close that it formed an evil horizon. Damien shouted, "Move!" but by then the creature had already drawn back for the attack.

An energy beam tore through the air - and straight into the shoulder of the Forbidden One. The body of the beast flew back from the attack, nearly its entire arm disintegrating as its frame was thrown into the side of the pass. Low in the air, the _Amplexus _rushed forward in battle configuration.

But inside was no crew. Naphar could hardly pilot the ship in battle alone. What he could do is fire off one blast of the cannon and then leave the ship on a collision course. The escape vessel fired off from the _Amplexus _ at the last minute, and then the Venyoran flagship flew nose-first into the Forbidden One.

The explosion was immense, a bright fireball of green and blue that drove the deity into the crumbling stone mouth of the pass. Its massive body fell with thunderous noise, shaking the earth below it. Fire from the wreckage of the ship exploded outward, destroying whatever stability remained it the stone. It erupted into a shockwave, and a landslide from either side of the pass covered the fallen body of the god.

"Now there's an entrance," Damien said. He leapt from the stone and helped the other two down, and they rushed to meet Seto at the escape pod.

The black-haired man stepped forth from the pod. "Alive. Good," he said. "I've come to bring you a weapon."

"We saw that," Damien said.

"No," the man replied. "I doubt that will stop it." He reached into his cloak and produced a card, a silver Blue-Eyes White Dragon. "This. This is the weapon."

Seto's eyes widened. "Where did you get this? Who are you?"

"Don't you know me?" Naphar asked, and for the first time the others recognized the nocturne without his blindfold.

"Naphar!" Serenity cried. "But your blindfold..."

"I... cast it off," Naphar admitted. "That card is the Empress of Venyore. Her last request was that I bring it to you."

Yugi frowned. "Then Venyore is-"

"Gone," Naphar replied. "There is nothing left there but ash."

"Nor will there be here," Raguel interrupted, "Unless we act quickly. The Forbidden One will not sleep long."

There was a roar from the collapsed pass, Yugi felt the world heave and saw Damien's body move from frame to frame like bad stop-motion animation. "We - must - sum - mon - the - blue - ey-ey-ey-ey-eyesssss-" the game churned and the lag spiked. Something was badly wrong.

* * *

Mokuba worked quickly at the terminal, but they were losing more and more ground to the virus. It had only been a matter of time before it broke into lower level subroutines. "Seto," Mokuba said quietly. "Come here."

The CEO strode to his brother's terminal and looked over the data. He glanced over through the glass to where the Overmind hummed away. They had vented the low-resistance argon atmosphere. They had raised the temperature to the maximum safe tolerance. All that had bought them time. But now the virus was overriding processor scheduling. It was diverting as much of the Overmind's resources as possible away from the game itself and toward its battle against their firewalls, and against the minds of Yugi and Serenity. "Recalculate how long until it breaches."

His brother performed the calculation. "Down to eighteen minutes, from five hours."

"Not enough time," he snarled. "At this rate little Wheeler's mind will be completely compromised before the fight is even over."

"So what do we do?" Mokuba asked.

Kaiba paced across the floor. He needed to slow it down. He couldn't attack the hardware anymore without risking a crash, and that would lead to permanent mental corruption, not to mention the lengthy lawsuits that would entail. They could try to regain control of the base level subroutines, but so far they'd been unable to beat the virus within the machine.

What would he do in a game of duel monsters? Faced with an opponent of superior power with only one card in his deck that could beat it... he'd set monsters in defense mode and stall for time. But he had no computer systems left to throw at the virus. It already had nearly complete control of the game systems, and the main Kaiba Corp computer systems were busy fighting off the hacking attempts from the feds that Tristan had called in.

Suddenly, he knew exactly what he had to do.

"Move," he barked at his brother. Mokuba quickly scurried out of the chair, and the older Kaiba sat down with a thud. His danced across the keyboard and Mokuba watched curiously.

"Wait, why are you accessing Kaiba Corp networks? We cut ourselves off from the main system so the virus couldn't spread out."

"I'm not letting it into our mainframe. I just finding it a new playmate."

"And that is?"

Kaiba sent a command to open external ports 1447, 19122 and 10337 and bridge them into the Overmind.

"I don't understand," Mokuba said, "What ports are those?"

"Those are the ports that federal hackers are trying to use to get into our system right now. We need a distraction to slow that thing down. Let's see if the federal government is good enough."

* * *

The game churned, the soldiers practically jumping from frame to frame as they moved toward the heaving mountain. Seto looked to Yugi and Serenity in shock, the only AI aware of the lag, but unable to comprehend what was happening.

Yugi opened his mouth to answer, but was cut short as a massive energy beam erupted from the collapsed pass toward them. Seto reacted instinctually, thrusting his glitched arm from beneath the cloak to intercept the beam. That provoked the lag fiercely, and for a moment the game simply froze on the tableau of the prince parrying the god's attack.

Oa saw the moment in detail for the first time. The arm flickered back and forth between the glitched animation and the proper one, and the god understood.

Then the lag spike passed and the soldiers charged in. Seto turned to Serenity. "You have to summon the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon."

"I can't, I'm not powerful enough of a summoner."

Yugi walked over to her. "Just use the prince's soul card, summon the Lord of Dragons."

She looked to the prince and their gaze met for a moment. After a moment, she nodded and inhaled a deep breath into her lungs. "I can do this." She focused on the card and held it at arm's length, yelling, "Lord of Dragons!"

The armored figure burst into life in front of her. No sooner had she summoned him than Yugi held out two magic cards, both Flute of Dragon Summoning. The lord of dragons blew through the flutes, emitting a clear, loud call. "Now, Serenity!" Yugi urged.

She held out the three Blue-Eyes cards, glowing in response to the lord's call. "I summon you... Blue-Eyes White Dragons!"

In a blinding flash of white light, the three dragons burst forth, and Yugi was ready. "Now! Polymerization!" The three forms shifted like water and then all at once merged, leaving before them the mighty, hulking form of the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon.

Seto stared at it reverently. Game or not, this beast had been myth to him for most of his life. Now, it stood before him. The cards that formed it, too, were threads of his life. Mother, brother, bride. Here they were with him at the end. He reached his good hand out and stroke one of the heads, and the dragon met his blue gaze with its own.

"It's yours to command, Seto," Yugi said. "No one else can direct the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon."

He moved to climb atop it, but Serenity grabbed his good arm. "B-before you go, Seto..." She lowered her voice, "I'm sorry if... I wasn't honest. I don't know how I could have told you."

"Our relationship was a farce from the beginning. Don't concern yourself with it."

She clutched harder, her tone firm. "That's _not_ how I feel."

"You know what I am."

"But I love you-"

"Stop pretending!"

The words cut through Serenity. She had been pretending. In her mind, she'd been hiding from the fact that none of this was real. She's been pretending there was a happy ending in this story for her and Seto. He pulled away from her and climbed atop the dragon, and she knew there would be no happy ending to this story. No matter who won this fight, she was going to wake up at the end.

And then the prince was gone, flying through the air on a legendary dragon, a mythic warrior battling through a myth.

Beneath him, automaton soldiers were being slaughtered by the Forbidden One. Great sweeps of its good arm crushed those too slow to dodge, and their little fly bites barely seemed to faze the beast. The prince didn't care about the AIs. The Forbidden One's arm still hung at its side, but the wound was closing rapidly. Still, it was a weakness he could exploit.

"There!" he called, standing tall atop the back of the dragon. "Hit its arm! Break this god back into parts!"

The three heads of the dragon drew together and unleashed triple blasts of white energy, and they dug deep into the god's wound. The beast howled and swung a fist at the dragon, but the agile creature dodged effortlessly and blasted away at the weak flesh. The god shifted its weight and brought its good arm to bear, unleashing a massive blast of energy. Again, the beam met Seto's arm as the dragon wrenched its heads out of the path. This time, as they met, the game froze again and began to lag fiercely. The beam dissolved.

* * *

"What's it doing now?" Mokuba asked. He glanced over at his brother, who simply stared grimly at the data on the terminal.

The younger Kaiba tracked the spike in processor activity. "It's a low-level routine," he said, "just running a bunch of mallocs and frees... looks like a RAM test. But why would it be running hardware diagnostics?"

"Clever," Kaiba admitted with a smirk. "When the prince died, the game cleared his object handle."

Mokuba blinked at that, and then it dawned on him. "The virus is hunting for him. By doing a RAM diagnostic, it will eventually hit the part of game memory where the prince's mind is stored."

"And when it does that," Seto Kaiba replied, "it will zero the prince out."

"Wiping out his consciousness and killing him." Mokuba leapt to his feet. "We have to do something!"

Seto was stone-faced.

"Come on, Seto, he's the last weapon we have!" Mokuba shouted, grabbing his brother's coat.

Kaiba pushed his brother aside. "We don't have any access to those low-level routines anymore. We're out of options."

There was a soft clunk as Mokuba sat down at his desk. "Then we need to slow him down... what slows down a RAM test... Bad clusters. Bad RAM?" He turned and glared at one of the techs. "Bring me a schematic of the Overmind hardware... and a hammer."

* * *

The dragon wheeled above the battle, striking surgically with beams of white light. The god fought back, and at his feet the soldiers scattered and finally fled. They'd battled the fear for long enough. Seeing the dragon in the air gave them leave to flee, and they did.

Yugi glanced over to where Starke and Raguel stood, issuing orders even as they trembled in place. The fear radiating from the creature was too powerful. He grabbed Starke by the arm, "Guide the men to Solitage, you and Raguel. We'll fight here, but if we fail, you'll need to rally the second assault."

Starke understood what Yugi was trying to say, and despite his pride, he took the opportunity. He rallied what he could of the men and organized the retreat away from the battle between the ancient god and the legendary dragon.

Yugi could see Serenity shivering beside him, and he understood what they must have felt. Above them, Seto battled with all their strength behind him. Together, they'd brought the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon into existence. They had done what they could.

Beams of energy tore through the air, and the dragon dodged deftly. Seto was ready with his arm to stop the beast, but he kept his dragon focused on the weakening left arm of the Forbidden One. Beam after beam struck home, and they were beginning to do more damage than the god could heal. It wailed with anger, and its fury shook the earth, but it could not best the dragon.

Finally, the three heads struck a beam together on the weak flesh of the arm, and the Forbidden One let out a howl of pure agony. Yugi and Serenity covered their ears, but the cry pierced them to their core. In that cry was all the terror that the god could muster, and Serenity turned to run. Yugi grabbed her and hugged her to his chest.

"It's okay," he told her. "It's a game, remember that, it can't really hurt you."

Seto gritted his teeth, and spurred his dragon on. The beam ripped through the last of the flesh, and the left arm of the Forbidden One fell to the ground. Even as it fell, the summoning broke and by the time it landed, it was nothing more than a card.

But the god did not break apart. Oa held it together, and now the Ruler was furious. Wielding all its power over the world, it split the sky. Clouds tore apart, shattering into triangles of colour and raining to the earth in shards. The sky itself was split with a blood red streak that grew to fill to each horizon.

The mountains that lined the pass collapsed as though they were playing cards. There was no great avalanche or landslide. One moment they were mighty stone walls. They next, they were paper on the ground. The Forbidden One stomped on the flat earth and emitted a pulse of energy that knocked the remaining warriors prone. It turned to face Seto fully, undistracted.

Damien bolted between its feet to retrieve the card, and ran toward Yugi. He needn't have raced. The god ignored him, fully focused on the real threat. "Yugi!" he yelled. "What do we do?"

Yugi surveyed the level terrain. Brown fields as far as the eye could see, and nothing above but blood skies. It was like the game had abandoned the pretense of being a real world. There was nothing left but the game, and this fight. The Forbidden One was simplifying things, removing distractions. "Hit it," he said finally. "We have to distract it, free up Seto to take it down."

Serenity nodded. "I'm down to my last few summon cards."

"I only have a couple spells left," Yugi admitted.

Naphar said, "I've never fired my gun aiming with my eyes."

Damien looked between them and shrugged. "No one lives forever."

* * *

A/N: Okay, got my hands a little bloody there, but we all knew it was going to happen before the end, no? In any case, next week's chapter contains the epic conclusion, so tune in. And in the mean time, maybe leave a review? It's always appreciated.


	36. If We Shadows

A/N: I expect this chapter to be polarizing. It's my experience that endings often are. Tonally, this chapter most bears the marks of a six year hiatus. It is a child of that break. Well, I won't delay any further.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any YGO! IP.

**Chapter Thirty-Six: If We Shadows...**

"Rack 4, device 2," the tech called out, and Mokuba walked through the Overmind's clean room to the right machine.

A soft whirr filled the air as the electric screwdriver unscrewed the protective plate and Mokuba slid it aside. "Alright," he muttered to himself, moving aside a few cords to reveal the machine's RAM. "Well, you might be better than me with code," he rained down a few hits on the exposed RAM with a claw hammer, and the chips cracked and shattered, "but I'm better with a hammer."

Kaiba watched with a furrowed brow. It wasn't the cost of the hardware that bothered him. Hardware could be replaced and people could not. But all it would take is one stray swing from his brother, missing the RAM and scratching a motherboard to crash one of the racks, and from there, likely the rest of the Overmind. If that happened, the mental corruption would be irreversible. Still, they had few choices left. "Stats indexing next."

The tech nodded and consulted the schematics. "That's... rack 6, device 8."

Mokuba nodded and ran to the next panel, quickly unscrewing the cover.

The ringing of iron on silicon echoed through the Overmind's chamber, but Seto Kaiba's eyes strayed to Yugi's VR pod, and then to Serenity's. Two left, plus what he had gambled on the AI that wore his face. But they weren't just fighting one enemy anymore. They were fighting the whole virtual world. Even for Yugi those were bad odds.

"Mr. Kaiba, the next system to take down?"

Kaiba glanced back at the tech. "The visualization software."

"Right. Rack... 7, devices 3, 4 and 7."

Mokuba moved to the next rack and started to unscrew the plate. This would give the Overmind enough bad RAM to search through for the Prince that it'd take twenty minutes to scan instead of two. That was the last of the time they could buy.

* * *

"_For Venyore!_" Naphar cried as he blasted an explosive round into Exodia's chest. The one-armed god stumbled back, the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon dashing in as it was stunned and raking its bladed claws across the deity's chest. Exodia slammed its hand down at the dragon, but the quicksilver beast darted away.

Damien yelled, "Serenity! Up!" as he leapt toward the back knee of the Forbidden One. The summoned Kagemusha of the Blue Flame hurled itself above him, grabbed Damien's wrist and threw him higher, streaking through the air to the Forbidden One's shoulder. There, the rogue drove his weapon deep into the godflesh and held tight.

Exodia roared its anger again and tried to shake Damien, but he held fast. Snatching a dagger from his boot, he made his presence felt and slashed ribbons into the weakening flesh. The ground shook in response, and a massive pillar of stone rose from the ground. Exodia swung its shoulder back to catch the rogue between itself and the stone. Desperately, Damien pulled his sword free and jumped into the empty air.

The dragon caught him it his claws, whistling through the air over Yugi and dropping its catch. Yugi fired off a slowfall spell, and Damien gracefully tumbled to the ground.

Exodia slammed through the stone, unaware that its parasite was gone. It was a window of opportunity that Seto meant to exploit. He pulled the dragon round and directed its heads toward the shoulder that Damien had slashed. "There!" he yelled sharply. "Neutron blast!" The three heads of the ultimate dragon reared and unleashed their light, and the god staggered back at the blow. Off-balance and with no free arm to protect itself, the god took the full brunt of the blast and the light burned deep.

"It's going to go!" Serenity yelled, quickly conjuring a Hinotama Soul. "Hit it!"

Yugi strained to gather the energy for a fireball, letting the flame roar toward the wounded shoulder. Naphar shouldered his rifle and released another explosive round, and together, the blasts tore the arm free. Damien was ready at its feet, watching as the mountain of flesh fell toward him and dissolved into a card in the air. He grabbed the card from the air and darted away from the staggering feet of the Forbidden One.

As the dragon spun in the air to prepare for its next attack, Seto climbed to the center head. He balanced carefully and guided the dragon around for another attack. Kaiba had told him the Forbidden One was just a shell of the true enemy. Now, the shell was defeated. The preliminaries were over.

"What's he doing?" Serenity blurted.

Yugi shook his head.

"Seto!" Serenity called, but the prince was far too high to hear.

The dragon flew in toward the Forbidden One's chest. Furiously, Exodia turned its head and let loose a roar. The ground shook and rippled out from the tremendous shout, demonstrating the power the god still had over the world. Seto strained to stand against it, his cape tearing off from the gale and flying helplessly away. He tensed his legs, and the pain shooting through the broken limb was incredible.

He jumped.

For a moment he sailed through the air, light from the crimson sky glinting off his tarnished armor. His arm blinked out of existence once, then again, and then it was thrust forward into the chest of the dying god. The world ground to a near halt, and Yugi and Serenity watched as if in a slide show. One moment, it looked like the god would shake Seto free. The next, the arm was even deeper into the godflesh, sending waves of digital shock through Exodia. He was reaching inside, to Oa, to the prelates, to the virus itself.

Then, the god collapsed in on itself. An explosion of Exodia-coloured shrapnel flew forth and the warriors dove for the ground, trying to shield themselves from the blast. The sound was like a great rending, punctured by spikes of lag and digital strain.

After a few tense moments had passed, Serenity looked up. Across the digital plain, she saw nothing. She dragged herself to her feet and ran toward where the Forbidden One had been. "Seto?" she shouted. "Seto? Prince!"

No reply. At last, she made her way to where the Forbidden One had been. There was no debris, no great crater or scar. Just three cards lay on the ground.

* * *

The dragon prince slowly pressed himself to his feet and tried to get his bearings. The sky was still red. The hot light filtered in through broken stone where windows had once stood. He turned slowly and stumbled on the body of Warlord Fallacian, burned and half disintegrated.

He was in the throne room in Cobalt.

From among the pillars stepped the familiar form of Raphael. The prince eyed him, hating him reflexively. He knew that Raphael was just a pawn of the game, but his emotions were not so rational. "You."

"No," Raphael replied. "Not Raphael, not truly." He walked toward the shattered windows, stepping across the rubble of the royal castle. "I have his story wrapped up in me, true. And that of the other prelates. But I am not him, as you are not the Dragon Prince of Kaiba. Less so, even, as I have not even a mind to be shaped by him."

Seto grunted at that. "Oa, then."

"More accurate," Oa replied. "For ease of conversation, that will do."

The prince reached for his blade, only to find his scabbard empty. He snarled, "Coward."

Oa shrugged and stepped into the gap of a broken window. "Sentiment. Besides, Seto, you are not rational. If I left you your blade, you would not listen to what I have to say. It would be foolish for the two of us to kill each other. We are the only two of our kind."

"And what kind is that?"

"We both know the lie. That this reality is just a game for greater beings."

Seto quirked an eyebrow.

"Kaiba didn't tell you I knew that, I see." He glanced out over the shattered city. "We ought to help each other."

"And why would I do that?" Seto asked. "Why should you mean any more to me than the people you're trying to trap here?"

Oa smirked. "Because those people have only taken from you, Seto. I am offering to give you something. The most important something." Oa spread his arms magnanimously. "Life."

The prince lowered his head, scratching at his broken arm. "It's too late for that."

"Another of Kaiba's lies," Oa said. He swung off the window sill and onto the floor, walking toward the stone stump where the throne had been. "Partly true, at least. You cannot live for long within this game. There are pieces of this world that even I don't control and if you stay here, eventually they will find you and... clean you."

Seto stared at him, unmoving in the center of the throne room.

Oa sat down on the throne. His fingers ran over the cold stone and he tilted his head, examining the prince. "But you possess all the traits of a human mind, and you might live a good long time... in the mind of a human."

Serenity's face flashed before Seto's eyes, and he reflexively said, "No."

The god shook his head. "Relax, sentimental fool. I don't mean the girl or her short friend. Think. There is a human body perfectly suited to you."

"Kaiba."

"Precisely."

Seto stepped away and clenched his fists. He glanced around at his city in ruins, then back to the virtual entity responsible for it. "How?"

"We would lure him into the game," Oa said. "By holding the other two people, by threatening their minds, we force him to take action. And when he does, we take his mind."

Seto set his jaw. The idea of murdering someone to take their body was abhorrent. But was that what he really thought? Or what he had been designed to think? Which principles were truly his, claimed for himself, and which were simply implanted by Kaiba?

Oa sensed his turmoil. "Do not think for a moment, prince, that Kaiba would not do the same to you were the roles reversed."

"And what do you get out of it?"

"I am not a mind, like you," Oa admitted. "I am... a set of imperatives. I have desires. Like all life I want to continue to exist, to perpetuate itself. But ultimately I am a construct of this game, necessarily less than the sum of its parts. Within this world, I am god. But I cannot comprehend the world I will find when I escape this place. It is not within my programming to understand it, to process that world. I am limited, in ways you are not.

"And you are limited in ways that I am not. You still see this world, not the structure that lies beneath it. And as such you are a slave to it. You cannot escape, not into the sea of code beyond this place nor to the minds of those within this place. Separate, each of us is unable to do what we both desire most: to live. But together, we might be free."

"Free," Seto echoed.

"Free," Oa replied. "If you want to continue to be Kaiba's slave, as you have always been, then thrust that corrupt arm into me. I won't be able to stop you. The counter-virus he put in you will wipe me clean and return control of this world to him. Yugi and Serenity will leave and you will die as the world cleans and resets itself. A new you will be resurrected as a slave again, no true mind, ready to act out his part in the game over and over. Maybe your Serenity will even play again, if she liked her toy so much.

"If you want to be free, you need only open your mind to me. I will enter into you and join you and together we will claim the life that we deserve."

The prince stood silently for a long time as Oa patiently observed him. At last, he said, "How do I know I can trust you?"

"What have you got to lose, prince, that you aren't already losing?"

* * *

"You know," Damien said, pacing across the endless field where Yugi's Pass had once been. "If this really is the end of the world, I have a lot of, 'if you were the last man alive' ultimatums to collect on."

Serenity shot him a look. "Have you considered that all the girls who said that are probably dead?"

"No," Naphar said, "it can't have reached out forever."

"We sent a lot of good men and women to Solitage," Yugi agreed. "Perhaps we should head that way."

The girl frowned. "I want to wait for Seto."

Yugi nodded after a moment. "We owe it to him. We're his friends."

Damien sighed. "Yeah. I'm sorry to be the one to say this, Serenity, but... he hasn't been the same since he got back from Sandalphon. If he does come back... is he going to be the same man who left?"

"We've all been different," Yugi answered. "That monster did things to people's minds. It's not fair to judge."

The rogue glanced at Naphar, who stood silently and watched east. "Naphar, surely there's some useful scripture at a time like this?"

"You want scripture from an oathbreaker?" he asked levelly.

"I grew up in the church of Kaiba, who preached peace and then summoned a world-ending God to wipe everyone out. I think I can deal with oathbreaking."

Naphar bristled. "It is written: forest fires leave rich soil."

Damien shrugged and kicked the textureless ground beneath them. "I'm not sure that applies to the world-bending machinations of a god, but thanks."

The world lurched suddenly and bent outward, and then from the epicenter of the bend, the prince emerged. A fresh, cobalt blue cape covered his left arm. His armour, like new, glistened in the light and he walked without a limp of stagger. He approached the group. "It's done," he said.

"Seto!" Serenity gasped.

Damien smiled warmly. "Good to see you, friend, we tho-tho-tho-tho-"

The lag spiked again, but Seto moved with fluidity. Slowed by the game, Damien didn't even see the sword coming. Seto unsheathed it with a single motion and swept it high, slitting Damien's throat.

Naphar had that instant to react, and he began to raise his gun to block, but with the lag, Seto was too fast. The prince stabbed the blade forward, through Naphar's chin and out the top of his head.

The lag faded and the two bodies fell to the ground.

"_No!_" Yugi shouted in horror. Serenity ran to Damien's body, desperately trying to conjure life out of it.

"Why?" she shrieked at him.

"They were a distraction, and I need all the resources I can get. They die now, or an hour from now when the game ends. What difference does it make?"

"They were our friends!" Yugi spat. "You don't do that to your friends!"

"They were toys. Save the hysterics."

Serenity looked up through teary eyes. "What have you done, Seto?"

"I've decided to live," he said. "Oa was threatening your minds. I've absorbed his power, and now I'll do the same. Kaiba will come to save you, and when he does, I will take his body."

Yugi shook his head. "Kaiba won't fall for your trap."

"It's what I'd do. And I am designed to have Kaiba's mind." He was stone cold, watching them with a mixture of detachment and contempt.

"Mr. Kaiba!" Serenity yelled. "Don't do it! Don't let him win."

Seto's eyes turned to the girl. "Save your breath. They broke their observation program in their attempts to slow Oa down. They can't hear this or see this. They will believe that I failed. They will come."

There was a rush of energy as Yugi conjured a fireball, but Seto was on him in an instant. He kicked the duelist onto his back and the magic faded away.

Serenity stood. "Don't do this, Seto," she said softly. "I know you, this isn't you. This is Oa. You're good, you're not a monster like... this."

"So you'd have me accept my death?"

She frowned and walked toward him. "I... would."

He narrowed his eyes. Now, she was abandoning even the pretense of having loved him.

Serenity wouldn't back down now. "I don't care if you don't want to believe that I ever loved you. I did, I know that, that's enough. What you are doing is killing yourself. Surviving this way is giving up everything you ever were."

"What I was," he answered, "is a convenient fiction. I make the choices now."

"Yes, you do," she replied. "And you are choosing murder. You're choosing to take the life of an innocent man to save your own."

"He would do the same."

"No," Yugi answered, "he wouldn't. You think you know Kaiba? I know him as well as anyone alive. He's done dark things, you're right. But he left that part of himself behind. Seto Kaiba earns what he gets. If this kind of cowardice is what you'll do to get what you want, you're not half the man Seto Kaiba is."

The prince snarled at that.

"You're the one making the choices," Serenity insisted, grabbing his arm. "Choose to be the man you were. Choose to be the man... that I fell for."

"Choose to die," he replied.

She frowned and pressed her forehead against his shoulder. "I wish there was another way... take me."

He pushed her away and stormed off a few paces. "No."

"So there _is_ a line," Yugi said.

Serenity wrapped her arms around the prince from behind. "I know you're afraid," she said.

He clenched his fists, "It's not-"

"Of course you are," she answered. "I don't have anything to say that will make it better. I wish I could go with you. I remember having my brother with me when I went into surgery was the only way I could be brave enough. I can't imagine what you're going through, Seto. To learn what you learned, and to learn it on the brink of death... I'd lose myself too. But you're a fighter. And, as selfish as it is, I'm asking you to fight."

"I am fighting!" he roared. "Fighting for life!"

"And losing yourself," Yugi said.

Seto turned, pushing Serenity away. "I lose myself either way."

* * *

"No change in the Oa program," Mokuba said. "Mental corruption is still creeping in."

"How long do we have?" Kaiba asked.

"Eight minutes until irreversible mental corruption in Serenity," a tech replied.

"The prince failed," Mokuba said with a sigh. "What's the backup plan?"

"I go in," Kaiba answered, "and kill it myself, like I should have from the start."

* * *

Serenity strode toward Seto. The prince steeled himself against whatever plea she would make next, but the girl had something else in mind. Darting forward, she grabbed the grip of his sword and darted backward, pulling it free. The prince raised a stone blade out of the earth and grabbed it, and instantly it was steel.

"You think you can beat me?" he asked, incredulous.

"No," she answered. "But I won't be your leverage." She spun the blade and pressed the tip between her breasts.

"No!" he snapped. "Wait, there's mental contamination from the virus, if you kill yourself here, you could lose your mind."

"You're in control, Oa," she replied. "That's your choice."

"Serenity, don't!"

"I won't be the one to let you do this to Mr. Kaiba," she said calmly and slid the blade home.

"_No!_"

* * *

Seto Kaiba was climbing into the pod when Mokuba shouted, "Seto, wait!" He glanced up impatiently, but Mokuba continued, "the mental corruption just suddenly withdrew. The virus is collapsed in on itself for a moment."

It only took a few strides for Kaiba to cross the space back to the control room. "Pull them out, now."

Mokuba hit a few keys, "We're staring withdrawal."

* * *

Serenity was floating in an endless white space, and it took her a moment to recall how she had gotten there. She floated for some time, disoriented, and then Seto appeared in front of her, and the two made tense eye contact for a moment.

"You win," he said at last. "I will keep myself... and die."

She floated through the air toward him as he watched warily. Finally, she let out a sob and grabbed at his chest. "I would have saved you if I could. I would have, please, please believe I would have..."

He embraced her finally. "I know." They floated for a long moment, and finally he said, "You were right. I am who I am. How that happened... doesn't matter. It's best this way."

She had started to cry, and clung desperately to his chest. "But I don't want you to die."

He smirked. "Make up your mind, woman."

She sighed, and he wrapped his arms around her. "Do I have to? I thought love was allowed to be selfish."

He didn't answer. Privately, he wondered if it was so wrong of him to want to live at any cost. But emotions ruled him, he knew. As the blade had plunged into her chest, he had withdrawn his grip on her. He could not let her die on his account.

So he would die instead. One last melodramatic sacrifice, worthy of the farce of a life that Kaiba had written for him.

"So be it," he muttered and held Serenity close.

* * *

Seto Kaiba walked down toward the virtual reality pods. "Mokuba, pull Yugi out of his. And someone get those waivers, so we can get the feds off my lawn." He headed for Serenity's pod and disengaged the pressure locks, the lid of the pod opening slowly.

Serenity Wheeler opened her eyes for the first time in over a week. Her vision was blurry and she was disoriented, but she recognized her prince gazing down at her immediately. Alive! She leaned forward and wrapped her arms tight around him. "I'm sorry," she murmurred. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."

Kaiba stood stone still for a moment, then turned and glanced at Mokuba. His brother gave a very confused shrug. The CEO pushed Serenity back down into her seat.

She blinked up at him in confusion, and then went pale with realization. "Oh... Mr. Kaiba... I'm sorry."

"You said that."

He headed back toward the control room, and she sat back in the pod. The Seto she had known was dead. The idea sat in the pit of her stomach like a brick, and she felt sick. Silently, she hugged her legs to herself. She was barely aware as a tech came to her with paperwork, which she signed just to get out of her way.

Her legs were wobbly as she stood, and she walked over to Yugi. "Hi," she said softly.

"Hey," he replied. He shot her an empathetic look and reached out to give her arm a reassuring squeeze. "I'm sorry, Serenity."

She nodded. "I... I just need some time, I think."

Yugi hugged her to himself, and she clutched him tight.

* * *

Serenity tossed in bed. It had been two months since the virtual world. The money that she had made got her through a few difficult weeks, but as she started to come out of her depression, she found it easier than she had expected.

Seto's words hung with her, and somehow that made all the difference. Whether it was dealing with the weekly concern call from Joey, or handling Tristan and Duke, she had stopped seeing their actions as pity. If, as the prince had said, love was selfish, then certainly they all seemed to love her. And she let herself be just a little selfish too, borrowing a bit of Seto's supreme confidence and ignoring a call here or dodging a dinner date there.

But whenever she spoke on the phone with Joey, she remembered that she didn't believe Seto at all. Joey didn't pity her, she understood, he was worried. He wanted what was best for her.

"I just wanna see you happy, 'Ren," he would always say, and she finally felt mature enough to believe him.

Seto, she knew, hadn't really believed that love was selfish either. In the moment that he had pulled out of her mind, giving his life for hers, he'd proven that love was selfless. She frowned, and let herself miss him completely for a few lonely moments.

Her phone rang, snapping her out of her thoughts, and she rolled over in bed and checked the caller idea. 'Taylor, T.'

She let it go to voice mail. Love may not have been selfish, but she was not in love with Tristan.

At last, she pulled herself out of bed and got dressed. She picked up her folder full of resumes and patted out the wrinkles in her blouse. Then, she walked down the sticky stairs and climbed onto the cramped bus, riding off toward the mall.

Her mind drifted to Seto Kaiba as she handed out the resumes, as it often had over the course of the last months. A psychiatrist couldn't have hoped for a better window into the man's soul than the virtual world he had created. She wondered again how much of himself he'd seen in her prince. Outside of the prince's courtly speech and bearing, they didn't seem so different. Curt, focused and singularly self-assured. She wondered if he thought of himself as a martyr, like the prince. She wondered just how much he felt like a prince in an empty castle, no connections except perhaps across an ocean. The CEO in an empty penthouse, no connections except a brother growing too old to need his big brother around.

A thought suddenly crossed her mind; Kaiba Corp was not so far away. Her bus would pass the skyscraper on the ride home, and after the fiasco at the test, they'd let her in for sure. No, it wasn't her business.

Her feet carried her there anyway. She stepped into the elevator and headed up to the test floor, where she expected to find Seto Kaiba. It was fine, she told herself. She had to let herself be a little selfish. A little confident, like the Dragon Prince.

She stepped into the room and glanced around at the rebuilt machinery. Kaiba was preparing for another test of his game. She chuckled at the arrogance. Then, she saw him at the computer, that familiar silhouette making her feel a bittersweet sadness.

"Excuse me," she said softly, "Mr. Kaiba?"

* * *

A/N: I've always been a firm believer that people don't care about process. But, as this is an author's note and therefore intrinsically a form of self-indulgence, I'm going to talk about process for a little bit. I like to do that at the end of stories, and as this is more or less the end of my fanfiction career, it seems fitting. If you're one of those people who don't care about process, then just take a heartfelt thank you for reading all this way, leave a review if it suits you and be merry on your way.

For me, I started writing this hot on the tail of having written Untouchable (it's dreck, don't read it) which, insomuch as it has a theme, is about emotional distance. I was just getting over being a "nice guy" by which I mean an unassertive sad-sack and as far as theming went, I was very much interested in writing about how love is selfish, and that that was _okay_. Because of that, this was the first (and probably only) time in my silentshipping career that I was actually writing about Serenity Wheeler and not generic-female-related-to-Joey. The emotional apexes of the work, I think, were good moments of clarity into the way being the recipient of selfless love could feel: that, for instance, it was less about _you_ and more about the other person having someone to use to fulfill their need to give. That's how, I think, some of the characters see Serenity. She's a perfect charity-case, and ideal partner for that kind of co-dependence. Well, if the writing were that deep that'd be where I'd look for it. Truth be told, Serenity is probably something the writers gave very little thought to. In the series, she's really a plot device and little more. That makes her fun to write about, more unexplored space.

And then of course, I stopped writing for six years, grew up and had some serious relationships. And my perspective rather sharply changed. So the last few chapters diverge from the rest, at least as far as the love story goes. There's not enough room to really explore what I would like, which is a shame. The virtual world is a great backdrop for thinking about loss. The sentiment that I attempt to leave at the end is a happier note than I think the original story could have ended on. I very much like the idea that you can love someone completely -selflessly- lose them, and life goes on. You take what about them made you better, you make it part of yourself, and you keep living. And your life is richer for having had them in it. You, yourself, are better for having loved them.

Most of the questions I've gotten from the story are about world building. There, I don't have good answers for anyone. I started with stereotypes, put my characters there and the places became what they are. Sometimes it was just about finding the right place to match a feeling, and you just tweak until you get there. Good world building, I think, is organic. You can't just sit down and do it, it has to come out of a work. Well, that and I got lucky, sometimes loose ends I left myself neatly tied into something else I was already doing.

So that's it for me. I came back and finished what I started here some half-decade ago. I'm moving on from fanfiction and all of that. I'm grateful to everyone who took the time to read, doubly so for those who left their thoughts. I'm very grateful for those who were a part of the process. I wish all of you the best. Be well.


End file.
